Disclaimer: Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.

Warnings: Some violence... and BxB love!

---

Gilbert sighed heavily. His crimson eyes followed the clock's second-hand as it turned at an agonizingly slow pace.

Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick

From his vantage point, perched upside-down on a sofa arm, Gilbert surveyed his younger brother's living room. It was impeccably clean. Everything was organized, proper. Simply perfect.

Gilbird chirped in his cage. Gilbert gave the bird a weak upside-down smile. The poor thing was in that cage because Gilbert wasn't around anymore to take care of him… Ludwig did a wonderful petting job but he'd never risk letting Gilbird out.

Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick

Clad in baggy jeans and a vermillion hooded sweatshirt, Gilbert scratched a burning cheek. His face was probably tomato red by now with all the blood rushing into his head.

He closed his eyes.

Tick-Tick-Tick-Tick

Gilbert figured that he had around six more hours before Ludwig returned. He'd have to leave before then… Otherwise he'd have to endure his younger brother lecturing him on his lack of work ethics – well, his lack of a job in general – along with the many social skills one required in life which Gilbert apparently hadn't bothered to acquire.

Tick-Tick-Tick

But Gilbert couldn't bring himself to care much about anything else. Stupid life… those damned pitying looks… He was fucking sick of leading this tedious existence…

Tick-Tick

When a star dies, its glow disappears, the light permeates into nothingness… its very essence ceases to exist.

Gilbert felt like a dying star. Utterly worthless.

How life had been perfect… He'd been the top dog at the Intelligence, had awesome friends, girls flocking around him like stray pigeons, foaming mugs of golden German beer-

Tick-Ti

And now here he was, living off his brother. Pathetic.

Tick

All it had taken was a single mistake. A single bullet to the leg and he had fallen back. By the time Francis had realized that he hadn't made it into the dual-rotor helicopter, it had been too late.

He had been stuck in Russian, the most dangerous state in the Eurasian Federation. The Russian mafia had never really been friendly with spies.

Tic-

Gilbert wondered why he hadn't gone back. All that had happened five years ago. Five years of bitterness had passed and yet here he was, still hating himself.

Ti-

Who was he now? A nobody…

He couldn't even drink his misery away. Ludwig forbade it. All the good stuff had been locked into the basement. If that wasn't bad enough, Gilbert had also lost quite a bit of his former effortless self-confidence. These days, there was only so much he could do when girls let out the horrified gasps seeing the unusual scars on his back. And his friends… his wonderful, loyal friends… Well, Gilbert had pushed many away when he isolated himself for two years after the 'incident'.

But now, everything was almost normal again. Gilbert's wounds had all healed, his aim with a gun was as good as ever, his combat skills honed, his body still strong… yet he never mustered the courage to walk back into that office, back to his job.

TICK

Verdammt! What he wouldn't give to go back to his old life… To kill the bastard who had ruined his life! But Ivan Braginski had disappeared off the face of the earth… That, or he was dead.

Gilbert wished on the latter…

RING

He- Wait what? "Woah!" Gilbert fell out of the sofa in a jumbled mess, landing on his head.

Ring-RING, Ring-RING

Jumping up, he rubbed the crown of head and stared at the telephone on the tea table. The heck?

Should he answer? What if it was one of Lugwig's friends? Did Ludwig actually have any friends who weren't petrified of him? He might as well anwser… Nobody knew that he was here… It was probably some weirdo salesman.

Ring- "Yo!"

"Hel- bruder?" asked a startled voice on the other line.

Gilbert's eyes widened. "West? Man- how did you even know I was here?"

"I wasn't sure really. Francis thought that you might be back in town. He saw an albino rushing away through the crowd at a bar last night."

Gilbert whistled. "That sneaky scumbag! Still I'm guessing that this isn't just to check-up on me since I saw that the cellar's been cleaned of alcohol. Watcha really want lil' bro?"

Ludwig's voice sounded tired. "Did you break into the basemen— nevermind, that doesn't matter. And no matter what you may believe bruder, I still care for you." his voice softened. "Wir vermissen dich Gilbert, we need you. You were an excellent gunman and still are… You're the best strategist we've ever had. Feliciano has been worried about your wellbeing as well."

"You still goin' out with that twerp from the Italian mafia?" Gilbert cackled, trying really hard not to feel touched at the words. "Now that's what I call a functional relationship."

"For your information, Feliciano and his brother have been very cooperative with our department, which is more than I can say for you." Ludwig snapped.

Gilbert frowned. "Nice try, West! Work that reverse psychology shit with someone like Kiku, not me! What makes you think that I'd come back now? I've been saying no for three years and I don't plan on stopping." Yeah right… Gilbert's brain supplied. Like hell you wanna say no!

Gilbert nicely told that part of his brain to piss off.

There was a pause. "Some new problems have arisen."

"So?" Gilbert scoffed. "Why'd I give a fuck?"

"It has to do with the Braginskis."

Gilbert froze and his heart stuttered, but not in fear.

"Bruder?"

There was a chill rising up his back, but it was one of excitement. Gilbert felt his lips pull into a smirk for the first time in ages.

He cracked his neck on one side and rolled his shoulder blades where he could almost feel the hot, barbed wired etching into his flesh. He would never forget the screams reverberating around that dark room, the taste of iron in his mouth, the crazed laugher of a devil thundering behind him.

Gilbert shuddered with a thrill. His blood rushed to his ears and it called to him, it called for revenge.

"Give me twenty minutes, West." Gilbert said, his voice suddenly dark and completely serious for once. He was out the front door before Ludwig could even formulate a response.

---

Cling!

"Top level: Primary workfloors."

Gilbert shuffled off the elevator and into a long corridor, dragging his feet. Ludwig was most likely watching him through the surveillance right now. He didn't want to appear too enthused… Ludwig would never let him hear the end of it.

"I have to say, you guys sure do keep this place clean, huh?" Gilbert chuckled as he was escorted through the top floor of the Intelligence Headquarters Complex. The pristine glass walls, emblazoned with the letters IHC, had been polished to such flawlessness that Gilbert could see himself reflected on the walls in perfect clarity. His hand jumped to his spiky, platinum hair and he suddenly felt very self-conscious walking beside the two smartly dressed men while he himself was clad in jeans and a hoodie.

"Not very much has changed since you left Mr. Beilschmidt." Tino was saying reassuringly. "Just some new faces, a couple of new weapons and software… actually a lot of new weapons and software."

"There are a couple of new recruits?" Damn it, why was he feeling so nervous?

"Not many." intoned the ever-stoic Lukas. "Matthias and Berwald are in charge of all the rides, Zwingli's still providing the big boys, Yao's handling gadgets, Kiku Honda's been promoted to training, your ex Héderváry is on communications and Ludwig, Kirkland, Jones and Bonnefoy lead the field teams. Oh, and Carriedo's abandoned us. He's with the Italian mafia now."

"Ja, I heard about that. Who's our new bankroll?"

"Sadık Adnan. Our money is just gushing in from the Middle Eastern Empire." Tino chuckled.

"I'll say…" Gilbert said, looking around at the unblemished construction around him. The high-rise itself was around 200 stories tall. That, along with the fact that their whole campus was cloaked from public surveillance and only restricted access was allowed through optically camouflaged jets and vehicles, was very impressing indeed.

"We also have a new eye-in-the-sky." Lukas's eyes glinted maliciously. "His name's Roderich Edelstein. He's your ex-girlfriend's ex-husband."

Gilbert gave a small laugh and shrugged disbelievingly at first. Then he noticed Tino's serious face. "No… she seriously got hitched? Elizabeta? With a man? Scheiße, what else have I missed?"

He was chortling with mirth a second later, realizing with a hollow sort of sadness that he didn't feel a twinge of jealousy or even regret at hearing this news. He remembered that there had been passion he had shared with Elizabeta, but he couldn't remember how it had felt. Nothing but the need for retribution ran through his veins now… Had Braginski really turned him into such a stone of a person?

Gilbert shook his head to dislodge his thoughts.

"Must be some man, to be able to get Liz tying herself down." Gilbert commented, grinning. "But then again… ex-husband you said? Ha! Nobody lasts with that bitch!"

"You're just as crass as Matthias… Edelstein's not just some pretty face in the department you know!"

"Heh Lukas, he is pretty…" began Tino.

"Yeah, okay, he's fucking gorgeous, Tino! But that not what I meant!" Lukas and Tino always reminded Gilbert of Lovino and Feliciano. "I've heard that Edelstein's's really skilled with knives. Come to think of it, isn't he also leading one of the special op teams?" Lukas asked.

"Only in name. He's actually been holding on to it officially for Mr. Beilschmidt here." Tino replied. "Ah, we're here."

.

.

They had reached the sturdy looking silver doors now. Tino swiped his ID card across a square structure on the wall beside them and the doors slid open. Gilbert caught a glimpse of the bustle of the workplace before there was a squeal of "Mon cher!" and Gilbert found himself engulfed by a beardy blonde's arms. Laughing he glomped the man back.

"Franny, you dick!" Gilbert greeted, blowing a raspberry on Francis's cheek.

The Frenchman recoiled immediately. "Eeew, Gilbert!" he complained, wiping spit off his cheek with the sleeve of his grey suit. He looked good. His shoulder length golden hair was pulled back in a stylish ponytail and his long bangs were swept to a side, revealing electric blue eyes. Gilbert stuck out his tongue at Francis childishly.

"That's for selling me out to my bro-hwah!" Gilbert breath was blown away by another impact as he was again surrounded by strong, muscular arms. Ludwig.

"About time, bruder!" Ludwig seemed genuinely pleased to see him, as he rarely gave hugs… or showed that he was capable of even remotely feeling emotions. But Gilbert couldn't do more than pat his arms as he was being strangled.

"Luddy! You're choking me here bro..." he wheezed.

Ludwig, his blonde hair slicked back professionally, gave a smart rap on Gilbert's head. He was wearing a black suit. His baby blue eyes softened as they watched Gilbert after such a long time. Despite being the younger brother, Ludwig was more muscled and a couple inches taller than Gilbert.

"Still the dramatic I see." said Ludwig, a faint grin in place.

Ludwig was a 307 positive, which meant that he had a gene which gave him super strength. An incredible asset to the intelligence. Gilbert had only received half of that gene, the other half had been subdued by his albinism, but he was still strong enough to get things done when he needed to.

"Well, how is it, mon ami?" asked Francis, gesturing at the office with a flourish.

From above, Gilbert had an awesome view of the whole top floor. They were standing on a raised platform by the door from where Gilbert could see the tinted glass covering the domed roof of the complex. Two stairways extended from the platform onto opposite sides; one lead to a rectangular glass room while the other lead to the lower workfloor. Gilbert advanced towards the railings and saw more than a hundred people milling around on a lower work area with papers and charts, talking on their phones and in-ear speakers. Most of them were typing away at high-tech looking computers. He saw members of his own team marching around, dressed in deep blue.

Panels as large as stadium screens were displaying faces of different criminals or pie-charts and statistics. Several doors on the sides of the large room opened and closed as people constantly flowed in and out. From that lower level, there was a spiral staircase rising to a higher floor where the transparent rectangular room, the main office, was located.

"At least Adnan's got no qualms spending on us!" Gilbert said, impressed by this surrounding as they finally led him into the main office.

Here, there were only around eight computers but several large tables, each with numerous maps, floor plans, graphs and used gadgets scattered on top of them.

"You say that, but you haven't even seen the new training room or armory yet." said a voice as they entered through the glass doors of the main room. A lean man with short blonde hair, wearing boots, ripped cargo pants and a Union Jack tanktop, was sitting on one of the tables. His large, caterpillar-like eyebrows were raised in amusement. He had a dry towel around his neck and was tugging on the black diamond stud in his left ear with a snarky grin on his face. "Oh, did I mention that we also have an indoor swimming pool?" He made a V with two fingers and stuck out his tongue between them at Gilbert.

Gilbert flipped him off in response. "Fuck you, Eyebrows! Is that how to greet an old friend?

"You insult me Gilbert. I'd never, ever, make the silly mistake of calling you my 'friend'!" said Arthur, but he was grinning.

"How's Allistor?"

"He's on a mission in the Scottish State. He's hating this one, had to dye his red hair black."

Gilbert guffawed, Arthur was the head of the department Allistor was in. "That's mean, Arthur! I mean, I'd never do something so mean to my bruder."

"Er, you did Gilbert. You made Ludwig dress up as an Italian during our mission in Iceland." Arthur reminded him. He was pulling off an industrial piercing from one ear. "Besides… this is just pay back for all the miseries Allistor made me suffer through as a teenager."

Antonio and Francis had transferred to the Intelligence team from being policemen, and Ludwig and himself had been in the German Army before… but Arthur Kirkland was a special case. Despite being the fourth son of a rich family, Arthur had been a delinquent of sorts during his adolescent years. He used to have several close connections with major European and Asian drug dealers. As a result, he put his 'acquaintances' with these mob bosses to good use for the Intelligence. He was also really skilled at using a bow and arrow.

"Angleterre!" Francis whined, using his favorite nickname for Arthur. "What are you wearing? Get rid of those ridiculous, tacky clothes and get into your suit! We have a dress code at the headquarters you know?"

"Relax, Frog." Arthur said, pulling out a lip piercing. Gilbert wondered whether or not they were fake. "I only just got back from my undercover mission. We've successfully blown up the new branch the Irish mob tried to place in New Jersey, and captured the leader's brother. I'm certain that their headquarters in the States is not far away now-"

There was a noisy clatter as the glass doors to the main room were thrown open and a tall man with hair the color of hay rushed in dressed in a skintight black training-suit which showed off his strong muscles. He was carrying empty holsters and had a black whip on his belt. One strand of his hair defied gravity. As he bounded into the room, his azure eyes spotted Gilbert. "Hey, dude! Gilbert!"

And for the third time that day, Gilbert was pulled into a man-hug. "How're ya doin Alfie?" Gilbert thumped him on the back. Hard... The man was a 307+ positive, which meant extra strength.

The hyper-active American was almost jumping now. "It's gonna be sweet now that Mr. Awesome's back! We can finally work together! Now, along with Captain Ameri-"

"Oh great, just what we need. More egotistical brats in this department." scoffed Arthur. Gilbert thought that the limey was being a tad hypocritical… Arthur practically oozed supreme righteousness all the time.

Alfred F. Jones, specialist in dealing with American mobsters, gangs and handling heavy artillery, turned with a retort towards Arthur, but then faltered. Gilbert saw Alfred's eyes rake over Arthur's form with a sort of hunger in his eyes as the shorter man took out the last of his piercings, leaving his ear stud on. Gilbert discretely got Francis's attention and raised an eyebrow in question. The Frenchman gave him a pervy 'big-time' sort of grin and nodded his head in affirmation.

Interesting… Gilbert mused. Alfred seemed to have grown up since the time he had run away from Arthur. Gilbert and Francis had helped him find a place after that. The poor boy had been dreadfully confused about something, but Gilbert had known what it was. Perhaps now, Alfred knew as well.

Alfred, busy staring at Arthur, hadn't even registered the silent exchange that had taken place. Gilbert leaned towards Alfred, a relatively innocent look set on his face. "You know, going undercover like that… Do you think Arthur has to dress that way to please those mobsters? Those arschlochs might be sick enough to enjoy taking advantage of pretty-boys like him!" Gilbert watched in glee as Alfred's fists clenched and his jaw hardened imperceptibly.

"Yeah… probably." He bit out gruffly.

Francis chose that moment to address Arthur. "Angleterre, please head to the showers. Knowing what a pervert that O'Sheary is… well, who knows what kinds of grime you have on yourself right now."

"What?" asked Arthur, sliding off the table. "Right. For once I'll agree with you, that jerk just couldn't keep his hands to himse— Oi! What are you doing, git? Let go!"

Alfred had grabbed Arthur's wrist and was dragging him towards the door, an unreadable expression on his face. "Let's go now! I'm sweaty from training, I need a shower too, dude."

"I can take myself there, idiot!" Arthur said tugging the towel around his neck with indignation as he was practically dragged away, a confused expression on his face.

Gilbert tried desperately to stifle his laughs when he heard Alfred mutter something about "cleansing that filth off".

As soon as both blondes were well out of earshot, Gilbert and Francis burst out laughing.

"Did you see his face?" Gilbert managed between tears.

"Oh! They are both smitten, but so oblivious!" Francis giggled. "It's just like Antonio and Lovino when they first met… except for the fact that they've known each other for more than 10 years!"

Ludwig regarded the pair disapprovingly.

As they broke down into further peals of laughter, a short man with black hair knocked softly before entering the room. He had shooting earmuffs around his neck and golden safety goggles pushed up into his hair. A part of his shirt was singed and was smoking slightly. "I am sorry to disturb you all, but has anyone seen Alfred-san? He left the training room without depositing the holsters or his whip!"

Gilbert turned to him, grinning devilishly. "Ja, I know where he's at! In the showers, that's where! You might wanna wait a bit before going there, Kiku. Until he finishes purifying Eyebrows until he's squeaky and clean again!" he managed before throwing his head back with laughter.

Kiku's eyes widened and he smiled at Gilbert, ever polite. "Gilbert-san, it's always a pleasure to have you back." he said, bowing.

"Now that's how you welcome back someone!" said Gilbert, raising his arms like a boss. "And Kiku, I've told you before… Stop that bowing! By the way, it's Gilbert-sama, not Gilbert-san!"

"Shut up, bruder." Ludwig snapped, glaring. "Kiku, is everything going on schedule?"

"Hai." Kiku affirmed. "Antonio-san should be here any minute now. Yao-san was asking for your assistance in installing the new gadgets in the training room. We don't know where it would be best to place the tracking bombs or the levitating-"

"Kiku!" sang a voice from the other end of the room… a voice Gilbert knew quite well.

Time had been good to Elizabeta. She still looked gorgeous and hadn't gained an ounce in five years. She was wearing a pretty green dress and her long brown hair was held back with a flowered ribbon. She hurried to Kiku with a… a creepy sort of smile and grasped his hands the moment she reached him. "Guess what Kiku, it worked! I heard that Matthias and Lukas are together now!"

Ludwig turned to Gilbert. "Well, I'm going to go help Yao with the installations then." His eyes narrowed. "Be nice, Gilbert. I don't want any trouble on your first day back."

With that, he turned and walked away briskly. Gilbert grunted in annoyance like he always did whenever Ludwig treated him like a child. Seriously, Gilbert was the elder brother! Francis put a hand on his shoulder and sighed comfortingly. "I'd better go find Antonio, mon ami. He was supposed to get here an hour ago. He's probably chatting away with Lars and Bella again..."

Waving him away, Gilbert turned back to the others in the room.

Kiku seems to be struggling to keep his composure. Gilbert thought that the Asian man looked rather excited at the notion of Matthias and Lukas being a couple. "That's… very nice to hear, Liz-san." He lowered his voice. "Perhaps we can discuss this further during break?"

"Done!" said Elizabeta. Then without further ado, she turned to Gilbert and slapped him across the face.

"Oww! What the fuck you raving bitch?" Damn, she could still pack it. Gilbert clutched his throbbing cheek and glared at her murderously.

"Oh, please, don't be such a pussy." Liz rolled her eyes. "That, my dear, was for ignoring all those calls and making people who love you worry to death. Somebody needed to pay for not bothering to tell us whether he was dead or alive! You disappeared of the face of the Earth for nearly two years."

"Fuck you! Don' act like you knew what I was going through!" Gilbert shouted, his anger flaring. "Two years! Let's see how long you take to recalibrate after a year with the Ivan Braginski! Worried my ass… Everyone's moved on, right? I heard that you even put a ring on it, so don't give me that bull!"

Liz was puffing with anger as well. "What, did you expect me to wait forever? You never even bothered to call me back, you selfish prick! I wanted a nice, settled life too!"

"Ja, and how long did that last?" Gilbert sneered. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kiku edging back slowly towards the door.

Liz stomped her feet. "Don't you dare turn this around on me! This is about you not letting your friends in, when you needed them! We were trying to help you. We all tried so hard… Urgh! You are such a cunt!" She advanced on Gilbert and he unconsciously retreated.

"I'm not a cunt, you are!" he shouted back.

"You man-whore!"

"Slut!"

"Dick!"

"Fatty!"

"Cock-up—"

"Elizabeta." A velvety voice interrupted their verbal spar as a man who Gilbert had not noticed before swiveled his chair around at the far end of the room. The man got to his feet in one smooth motion and approached them with a reprimanding expression on his aristocratic features.

But what surprised Gilbert more, was the fact the Elizabeta actually lowered her head and shuffled her feet like some innocent school-girl.

"This is neither the time, nor the place for such childish matters, Elizabeta." The man scolded. "The meeting shall begin shortly. You should go and freshen up. I shall give Mr. Beilschmidt the tour."

Mein Gott, thought Gilbert. This guy talks just like Arthur, when the Brit's being a mega-jerk!

But Liz looked up at the man's face and gave him a warm, adoring smile which Gilbert had never seen even when the two of them had been together. She put an arm on his shoulder. "Thank you, Roderich."

Then, she kissed the brunette on the cheek and with a last glower at Gilbert, stormed out of the room. Gilbert realized only then that he and the other man were the only two people left inside the main room.

'Roderich', Liz had called him. So this was the ex-husband?

Gilbert turned to the man. He was, as Lukas had said, 'fucking gorgeous'. His lean body was slender like Yao's and he had an air of gracefulness about him. His eyes were a shade of indigo which appeared to be violet behind his thin glasses and his hands were folded lightly on his chest, his posture was very straight. A small curl of hair was standing up from the side of the brunette's otherwise perfect hairstyle and he was dressed like… like an aristocrat from 20 centuries ago. He had on a frilled shirt and a silk, purple waistcoat along with dark plum pants. Roderich was pale, but not as white as Gilbert's chalky complexion. Gilbert noticed a beauty spot beside the man's full lips. Said man was now extending a delicate hand towards Gilbert.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Beilschmidt." he said, a slight accent gracing his words. "I'm Roderich Edelstein."

Gilbert took the hand in his. It was small compared to his large calloused hands, and surprisingly soft. "Yeah, I know. You're –" Heh. Gilbert thought. Probably not the time to mention the ex-husband thing... "You're the guy who's been keeping my field team in shape, ja?"

Violet eyes widened in surprise. "I am. Well, I was. Now that you have returned, I can resume my other responsibilities with much more concentration."

"Oh, ja? What else do you do around here?" Gilbert asked, despite already knowing what the eye-in-the-sky's job was. He did'nt want to sound like some creepy stalker after all.

"I make sure that the missions do not fall apart." said Roderich, a smug smile on his face. "I survey teams, do most of the information analyzing, put plans and teams together based on what we've found… All in order to ensure maximum security, minimum risks. Oh, and by the way, I will be requiring your permission in joining your special operations team."

Gilbert felt his eye twitch. 'Aggravating…', there was no other way to describe the effect the pretentious look of self-importance on the brunette's face had on him.

He looked Roderich up and down, dubiously. "You wanna go out in the field?" he questioned, unsure if the man would survive a mission.

Roderich practically bristled, and then his sharp eyes lowered swiftly to their hands. Gilbert followed his vision and jerked away swiftly, realizing that he had still been grasping the other man's hand in his.

"I assure you." Roderich sniffed, his nose tilted in the air. "I am quite capable of handling myself in tough situations. Might I remind you that I have been the one undertaking all of your operations for nearly two years now. Besides, I shall not be leaving headquarters all the time. The others require my skills here."

"Ja, ja…" Gilbert frowned. His dislike for the brunette was growing further by the second. Someone seriously needed to pull out that enormous stick the man had put up his ass… "But I won't promise anything until I see you in action. Hey! Maybe if you show me what you're good at in the training room. Weren't you supposed to give me a tour of the complex?"

Roderich checked his wristwatch. "I am afraid that will have to wait Mr. Beilschmidt." He looked up. "The meeting on the Braginski case is about to begin."

.

.

The meeting had been going on for less than an hour now… but Gilbert was already immensely bored. He actually felt sleepy. Everyone was sitting around one of the large tables in the main room. Gilbert had reclined his chair as far back as it would go from the table and wanted to shut his drooping eyes. His stomach growled as he blearily watched Alfred swallowing down burger after burger while listening to Antonio relay them information from the Italian mafia.

"So, let me get this straight." Arthur was asking Antonio. "According to Lovino Vargas, Braginski wants to blow up some random city in Canada?"

"Si!" replied Antonio, grinning cheerily. "Lovi received a letter telling the gang to back off or die."

"Wow… good thing Mattie's stateside." Afred muttered, his brows furrowed.

Alfred had tracked his half-brother, Matthew Williams, after he had run away from Arthur's custody. But that was another long story…

"But to what gain?" Ludwig was questioning from Gilbert's side. "This doesn't make sense…"

"We may already know why." Roderich said, frowning. "Vash intercepted a heavily encrypted message from some remote place in Russia, ordering for four chemical warheads. And when we dug deeper into the coded message, Elizabeta found something about a crime lord's sister being kidnapped and taken to Canada, in the North American Kingdom."

Elizabeta nodded. "I have a pretty good hunch that the message was Braginski's. Still, we can't be a hundred percent sure…"

Francis looked like he was deep in thought. "It has to be. Braginski has nothing to fear. His crime ring is the biggest in the world. It is highly illogical for Ivan Braginski to attack unprovoked for any reason other than a personal one, non?"

There was a noisy 'slurp' as Alfred began on his milkshake. Gilbert sniggered when Arthur gave the American a disgusted grimace. "Dudes, that still makes no sense! Why would he wanna bomb a place his sister's probably at?"

Something jolted Gilbert out of his stupor at Alfred's question. He sat up straighter on his chair. "Liz, was there mention of any demand for a ransom?" Everyone turned towards him with surprised looks. He stared back. Was it that unusual for him to contribute in these meetings? "Well? In the message you decoded, was there any mention of money? Any amount?"

Elizabeta shook her head. "No... I didn't find anything about any payment. On the contrary actually. From what I got, it seems like these captors have made no contact with the Russian mafia since the kidnapping which was weeks ago."

Gilbert nodded. "In that case, Braginski probably believes that they don't plan to give his sister back, or that they are torturing her for information or something." There was a somber glint in his scarlet eyes. "I know how that psychopath's mind works. If he thinks that their methods of torture are the same as his, then he probably believes that she is better off dead. It's easier to die than to suffer through some types of pain. Trust me, I know..."

There was a silence. Gilbert avoided the gazes, he felt his scars tingle at the memory of his captivity.

Then, Kiku spoke up. "But Braginski is being too risky. Especially since he hasn't even heard from the kidnappers and doesn't know for sure! Chemical warfare does not stop at the borders of countries. If what he is planning is successful then the whole world will be affected! These are the sporadic actions of a desperate man."

Alfred snorted. "Come on, Kiku. We all know that that Ivan dude's not right in the head." he said, pretending to turn a screwdriver through his skull.

"Lovely… That makes two of you…" Arthur murmured under his breath.

"What was that, Artie?"

"Quiet, you two. This whole situation is more complicated than we imagined." said Ludwig, rubbing his forehead wearily. "There is a potentially unstable man, who may or may not be in possession of dangerous weapons, which he is willing to use in order to wage chemical warfare, at any possible time."

"But why chemical?" asked Francis. "Why not nuclear?"

"Nuclear is easier to track. It is also more unpredictable." said Roderich. "But chemical weaponry can give the aggressor an edge of control. Especially if they have the right people who know how to use them…"

"But such weapons are harder to construct." said Kiku. "A weapon of mass destruction like that, which can destroy a whole region, and be launched from the other side of the world… Yao-san, what are your statistics?"

Yao cleared his throat. "Ai ya, let me think… If it's being built from scratch, and if the workers have a good idea of what they're building, then a weapon of such capacity and range can take… around one year to be complete."

Gilbert shook his head. "Ivan's not a patient man, Yao. You sure there aren't any other possibilities?"

"There are." Roderich said. "If parts of the weapons are pre-ordered from elsewhere, then the assembly should not take as long as one year. We shall need to know if Braginski's mob has recently hired any chemical and mechanical specialists or not. And about the weapon parts, I think I know who to ask…"

"Antonio, will the Italian mafia be willing to cooperate with us on this, aru? " Yao asked, sounding very impatient. "Will they give us the information we need?"

Arthur actually laughed at that. "Knowing the Vargas brothers, I'll wager on 'no'." Gilbert snickered in agreement. Liz threw him a dirty look.

Antonio looked torn. "I don't think they will either… But amigo," He shook his head at Arthur. "I can't have you badmouthing my Lovi."

"That's sweet of you, Antonio." said Elizabeta.

"Thank you, Lizzie." Antonio had a dreamy look on his face. "I try with Lovi, you know? But he just keeps swearing at me all the time… But he's my 'one', you know?"

Gilbert managed to pass off his snort as a loud sneeze. Everyone knew exactly how deeply Antonio was enamored with Lovino Vargas. Gilbert had been told of an incident a couple of years ago when Antonio had been asked to choose between his job and the person he loved. Fortunately, it seemed as though the little Italian punk liked Antonio as much as the other man loved him, and they had been together ever since. The perfect couple.

"…to me, he's perfect. And the prettiest person in the world! Oh, right after you Roderich, of course. Ah, please don't tell Lovi that I said- Ouch, Dios! What was that for, Francis?"

Wait… what was that about Roderich?

The legs of Gilbert's chair slid away underneath him as he stiffened. He stopped himself from falling backwards by grappling onto the side of the table. His eyes swiftly sped from Francis's shaking head, to Antonio cursing and bending to rub his foot under the table, then passed onto Arthur and Elizabeta exchanging a look, and finally landed on Roderich, whose eyes were wide in surprise and whose cheeks were looking very pink.

"Mon ami!" said Francis, a strained smile on his face as he put his arm around Antonio's shoulder. "I understand l'Amour better than anyone… but let us get on with the meeting, non?"

Most of the others didn't seem to feel the tension in the room. Alfred was rapidly shoving down french fries and Yao kept checking his wristwatch. But Gilbert noticed Arthur and Ludwig exchanging a brief look and Elizabeta sneaking a fleeting glance at Roderich. Gilbert turned to his brother.

"Hey, bruder. Why'd Tonio say that?"

Ludwig turned to Gilbert, apparently taken aback by the question. "You don't know? I though Antonio had told you… he and Roderich had been together for a year before Roderich and Elizabeta got married."

Oh no they didn't! How dare his so called best friends keep this juicy bit of gossip from Awesome Him? Gilbert's eyes roamed over Roderich again, studying the brunette from a completely different angle.

Arthur's voice broke the hush. "Alright, chaps! No use sitting here all day! I'm guessing we all need to gather a lot more information than what we have right now, eh? So, who's doing what?"

Kiku raised his hand. "Yao and I can research on what type of chemical warfare they might have in mind."

Francis nodded. "Team Rose will be trying to find any missing weapons expert or chemical specialists around the North Asian region."

Antonio winked. "I'll give you guys updates if I can… whenever Lovi's not around."

Alfred slammed his hand on the table. "Team Hero will be interrogating weapons' dealers around the world… cause— I'm the hero!"

Ludwig gave Alfred an exasperated look. "Team Iron Cross will deal with all the weapons coordination for this mission."

"Team Magic shall handle any other missions and problems which we may encounter during this vital operation." Arthur then looked from Roderich to Gilbert. "So, what's Team Knight's Cross going to do?"

Gilbert shrugged. His red eyes met Roderich's and he gestured for the Austrian to speak. "Since we are leading the ground operations, it will be best to train the team in colder climates and harsher conditions, and have them perfectly familiarized with Braginski's fighting tactics…" Roderich turned to Gilbert, who nodded in agreement.

Ludwig stirred at Gilbert's right. "So, I'm guessing you'll be going communications coordination, Elizabeta? When can you send out your scavengers to spy for information yet?"

Elizabeta bit her lip, gathering her graphs. "I'll need more time. My Vulture Team is ready to leave at a moment's notice but the Eagles haven't returned from the American Irish mob mission yet."

"Wait." said Gilbert. "Won't it be easier if you send part of your Eagle Team to Canada to see what they can find about the missing girl from the States? If we can rescue her then we could stop this whole thing. Although, knowing Braginski…"

Elizabeta scowled. Ludwig however, smiled proudly at Gilbert. "That is not a bad idea bruder!" he said, slapping a hand on Gilbert's shoulder. "I am glad that you are not letting your feelings inhibit this mission." he said in a quieter voice.

Gilbert frowned, crossing his arms. "Hey, I'm not stupid you know…"

There was the sound of chair legs scratching the floor and muttering as the meeting slowly broke apart.

"Roderich-san, the Training Room is not ready yet, but perhaps Gilbert-san would like to see his team again first?" Kiku was saying behind him.

"Alright, Kiku. I expect General Fritz will be glad to see the last of me... Mr. Beilschmidt!" called Roderich.

"Yes?" "What?" Came two simultaneous responses.

Roderich paused, then blinked at both brothers. "I meant your brother, Ludwig."

Gilbert grinned at him. "Might as well start calling me Gilbert, Roddy! Otherwise it's gonna get pretty confusing in here!"

Roderich spluttered for a moment at the nickname Gilbert had come up with, to the latter's utter amusement, then turned stiffly and walked out the glass doors with a superior arch in every step he took. "Please refrain from calling me that atrocious nickname!"

Gilbert chuckled.

"Well then, whenever you are ready… Gilbert." Roderich bit out as he walked away.

Gilbert's lips formed a smirk. Now he just knew that he was seriously not going to like the man. He didn't miss Roderich's slight backward glance at where Francis seemed to be berating Antonio, who was looking confused and guilty at the same time. Gilbert bounded off his chair and followed the ostentatious brunette out of the main room. As he walked past his best friends, Gilbert gave them a menacing whisper. "Bar. Tonight. You two're gonna explain all this shit to me."

And by Gott if he didn't smirk in pleasure when both of them blanched at that. He heard them arguing about it as he left the main room.

"… didn't tell him, mon ami?"

"No! I thought you did…"

.

.

Gilbert's team was assembled inside one of the huge combat practice areas. As Gilbert and Roderich approached them, the squad clad in blue shirts started muttering amongst themselves.

"… on time as usual…"

"… looks so nice!"

"Who's that…"

"Oh look, Mr. Edelstei—" A gasp. "Everyone start freaking out! Beilschmidt's here!"

Gilbert couldn't help but chortle at that. "Suck it, losers!"

Roderich rolled his eyes. "Everyone, Tercio formation." he called in a clear, carrying voice before anyone else could speak.

Gilbert stood watching as his men suddenly became silent and serious, and marched in synchronization, assembling into several square shaped groups which made an organized pattern in front of him. Nobody moved or spoke.

Then, a strapping young man walked forward. He had golden locks of curled hair falling gently around his striking face, and he regarded Gilbert as one would a long lost brother.

"General Frederick Fritzsche, reporting for duty, sir!" he said, saluting Gilbert.

Gilbert walked up to him and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "We're not in the army anymore, Fritz. No need for all that. Awesome Me is called Team Leader now!"

"As you wish, si— Team Leader!"

"You may stand at ease." Roderich told the team.

"You do not give us orders any longer, Mr. Edelstein." Fritz said, spinning around at the Austrian. Gilbert noticed an uncharacteristic sneer on the man's face. "Now that Mr. Beilschmidt is back, we will only follow him."

But contrary to what Fritz said, the men behind him loosened out of their attention stance at Roderich's words. Fritz glared at them, but Gilbert was secretly impressed. He had never see his men so disciplined before… let alone forming battle formations so efficiently at a single command.

"So, ya did train them, huh?"

"Yes." Roderich inhaled deeply, his violet eyes on Fritz. "Now that I see your lax demeanor around your team, I understand why it took me four months to get them straightened out."

"Hey!" Gilbert said, irritation flooding him immediately.

"With all due respect, agent." Fritz began, gritting his teeth. "I believe Team Leader Beilschmidt would have achieved the feat in fewer days."

"You know…" Roderich's eyes flashed and he stepped forward. "That may very well be true. I am sure Mr. Beilschmidt would not have had you trying to thwart him every time he tried to teach this team something new."

Fritz took a step towards Roderich as well. "Correct me if I'm wrong, agent, but it seems as though you are insinuating-"

"General, lower your voice! Agent Roderich is still your superior." A young girl with her long hair in beautiful ringlets walked up from behind Fritz, her hands crossed behind her back. She grimaced at Fritz and glanced at Gilbert as though she thought that he was made of dirt. But when she turned to Roderich, the girl had adoration in her eyes. It kinda looked like the face Elizabeta had made when she had been gazing lovingly at Roderich.

"Who are you, little girl?" Gilbert asked her.

"My name is Maria Theresa Christina, Team Leader." she answered curtly.

Gilbert winced at her tone. "Well then, what's a girl like you doing in my team?"

Roderich cleared his throat beside him. "I recruited her, along with quite a few other women, during your absence. I do not know whether you have noticed or not, but Team Knight's Cross was the singular one in our whole department which consisted of only one gender."

"Ja, I knew that." argued Gilbert. "But wars are won by men, not women!"

"Well said, Chief!" nodded Fritz, as though Gilbert's words were scripture. "Hear, hear."

"I cannot fathom how you can think like that after having known Elizabeta." Roderich gave Gilbert an almost pitiful smile. "What century do you live in exactly?"

"Shut up! That's rich you know! Coming from a sissy-pants dressed in Victorian clothes!" Gilbert snapped.

"Mr. Beilschmidt." Roderich ignored his comment with a frown. "We are not 'winning wars' here. Like you said, this is the Intelligence, and we are living in the 36th Century. Ms. Christina is a very able woman. In fact, she has the same rank as Mr. Fritzsche here. They reached a draw during their combat match. Neither of them managed to defeat the other."

Fritz was glaring daggers at Roderich, looking very red in the face. Maria Theresa however, had a very smug grin on her lips.

"But Roddy, girls will slow us down!" Gilbert cried petulantly.

"I just explained…" Roderich shook his head, then stared at Gilbert with a distinctly impish look. "Very well. As you are back now, it shall be as you wish, Mr. Beilschmidt. But I wonder what you shall do when a mission requires for your team to go someplace where the presence of women may be needed… perhaps even crucial." Roderich turned to Gilbert's men with a teasing smile. "I hope you boys are all willing to dress up in women's clothes. Team Leader Beilschmidt here will have you all fighting in skirts and high-heels soon!"

A loud gale of laughter erupted all around them. Gilbert felt himself bristle in anger. There was no way he could kick the girls off his team now without looking either stupid, or sexist. He suddenly understood why Fritz hated the Austrian. Roderich's faint smirk spoke clearer than a loud-speaker. I win.

But that was only the battle, Roddy. thought Gilbert. The fight is on!

A hand was raised at the back.

"State your name." Roderich's voice called.

"Francis Stephen." the man said. "Permission to speak freely, Agent Edelstein."

"Granted." replied Roderich.

"Will you be staying to train us?" Stephen asked hopefully as he looked around himself. "I am sure that we will all be very glad should you decide to do so, Mr. Edelstein."

There were murmurs and nods all around them. Gilbert scowled, Roderich was definitely not short of admirers then.

"That all depends on whether Mr. Beilschmidt will allow me to join his team or not."

Several pairs of hard eyes were suddenly on Gilbert, who backtracked defensively. "Well, he'll have to show me if he's really good enough or not, Mr. Stephen. If Agent Edelstein is as talented as he makes out to be, there should be no problem."

Relaxed sighs and 'phew's sounded throughout the room. Gilbert's jaw hardened. Traitors… Roderich had thrown a wrench into his team's whole hierarchy. He'd have to do some major damage control now... Gilbert decided that he should start as soon as possible.

"All right men— erm… I mean, team!" he shouted. "Enough chatting! Show me that y'all haven't gone to rust! You can start with the stuff you losers usually do, ja? Uou guys up for that?"

"Yes!" called a blend of voices.

"Are you ready to show me that you're not a bunch of pussies?!"

"Yes, Team Leader!" came the sounding roar.

"Then fucking get to it, you bunch of suckers!"

The men and women started moving in neat rows and columns, calling cadence to keep rhythm. Exhilarated, Gilbert turned just in time to see a small, indulgent smile form on Roderich's lips. The brunette breathed in deeply and he gazed proudly at the men and women in navy blue, who were now pairing up to fight in twos, threes and fours, then made to turn towards the door. But Gilbert's hand shot out and grabbed his thin wrist.

"Wait." Roderich looked up at him, his eyes slightly wide. Gilbert dropped the hand and turned away sullenly. "I dunno what you've been doin' to train them… but they look okay enough. So I want you to stay for the first couple of times…" He looked up abruptly to see Roderich trying to suppress a grin. "Listen, Priss. I'm not asking for your help training my men— and women! I just wanna see how you've dealt with them until now. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Roderich replied.

They stood beside each other in silence, watching as the grunts and shouts filled the room. Gilbert closed his eyes and suddenly felt more peaceful than he had in years. He was back where he belonged.

---

"Fuck you, Tonio."

"Amigo… I'm telling you, I thought that Francis told you."

"…and I thought that your brother or someone else had told you!"

Gilbert swallowed his mug of beer in three large gulps. Licking his lips, he gestured for the robotic barman to bring him a refill.

"It was just one year, mi hermano. Not even that long… I don't see why you're getting so worked up—"

"I'm not getting worked up… I just hate missing out on things." Gilbert grumbled.

The three stayed silent for a moment. Francis turned the wine glass in his hand, swirling the liquid inside before taking a sip. "I truly thought that Ludwig would have told you… seeing as Roderich lived at his place for almost a year, around the time he met Elizabeta."

Gilbert eyes snapped up. "What?"

Francis's eyes became large in realization. "You didn't know that either?"

"No!" yelled Gilbert. "You guys all are dicks…"

Francis was giving him a pitying smile. He had a special gene too, number 872 or something like that, which allowed him to discern between truth and lies. Gilbert always thought that it was the reason why the Frenchman never wanted to enter a steady relationship… Nobody wanted to know what people really thought of them after all. That was one of the reasons why Gilbert actually respected Arthur. For Francis to actually remain friends with him for so long, there had to be some major trueness of character in that man.

Antonio's brow puckered. "You can't blame us for missing out though. Serves you right for leaving."

Gilbert narrowed his eyes at the tanned man. "Don't start with that shit… guilt tripping me is Liz's job."

The Spaniard nodded. "Bueno! She already gave you a lecture I see…"

But Gilbert had more important questions in mind. "So Roddy lived at my bro's place for a year? Didn't Luddy and Feliciano have any problems with that?"

"Not really." Antonio shrugged, downing his shot of tequila. "It's strange… Apparently, Lovi and Feli had known Roderich as children. He used to babysit for their grandfather. It's a small world, verdad?"

Antonio sipped his drink with a silly smile on his face. Gilbert simply stared at him for a while. "What did'ya even see in Priss?"

Antonio looked up at him. "Priss?"

"You know…" Gilbert raised a shoulder uncaringly. "He acts like a fucking nobleman, so I thought…"

The Spaniard chuckled. "He's a really good guy Gilbert… and so beautiful. I fell for him at first sight! He was playing the piano at the concert—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" interjected Gilbert. "Who was playing the piano?"

"Why, Roderich of course!" said Antonio with a smile. "He plays wonderfully! I guess I was drawn to the side he always hides from people…"

Someone blew their nose. Gilbert and Antonio turned to see Francis wiping his eyes theatrically. "Oh, don't stop!" Francis cried dramatically.

Antonio rolled his eyes, but continued. "But I couldn't get him to show me that side of his as much as I would have liked. It wasn't his fault! I just don't think that he liked me as much as I loved him."

"Loved him?"

Antonio chuckled. "Yes, that was before I met Lovino of course. That's when I found out what love really was…"

Gilbert listened quietly, brows raised. Francis had stopped pretending to cry by now. He had a more lecherous look on his face. "How was he in bed, mon ami? He must be very good, non?"

Antonio turned pink and hid his face in his hands. "Basta! Don't make me think about it, mi amigo! It would feel like I'm cheating on Lovi!"

Gilbert looked from Francis to Antonio, then back again. "You two're crazy! Are you guys actually saying that you find Priss attractive?"

Francis grimaced at him. "Gilbert, I know that you do not generally go for the right types… Don't look at me like that! Let's face it, Elizabeta was not your best choice for a girl! But even you, mon ami, can't be so blind as to not notice the simply angelic features of that Austrian beauty!" Francis's mind seemed to have wandered off into dreamland. "His looks and poise give him a certain… je ne sais quoi!"

Gilbert scoffed. "You two're out of your minds! Roddy looks more like he's probably very… prissy at sex…"

Antonio looked up from his hands, a strained expression on his face. "Oh, but amigo… those nights, they were wild! Roderich was such a chico muy guapo…"

Francis was gushing beside him, but Gilbert felt awkward. Antonio's eyes were slightly lidded and he looked like he was imagining something very inappropriate. Gilbert shoved at his shoulder. "Snap out of it, man! Your face looks like you're doing him in your head!"

Antonio seemed to jolt out of his thoughts and scratched his neck guiltily. "No, no. Lovi's my only one now. I wasn't thinking about that!" he grinned. "…but mierda, he sure left an impression."

Gilbert simply couldn't understand what his friends saw in Roderich... Or perhaps he just refused to.

But come on! This was Roderich I'm-so-much-better-than-you-that-it-hurts Edelstein they were talking about! They were talking about the same person, right? The stuffy, haughty, prickly little arschloch? Sure he looked kinda cute when he got annoyed and red… but sexy? Not a word Gilbert would use to describe the brunette.

"I definitely would." said Francis. Damn. Had Gilbert said those words aloud? "It's because you've never liked men, Gilbert. But try to grasp his beauty will you! I saw him changing before our training session and mon Dieu… that boy has the body a cherub. I'd love to-"

"Stop it." Francis and Antonio both turned to him. Was he the one who had said that? Crap. Gilbert took another large gulp of beer. "I mean… you're beginning to sound like a pedo… And besides, Roddy's in my team now. He may be a royal priss, but it's just weird to have you two talking about him like that."

The part about putting Roderich in his team was true. Although he had yet to tell Roderich, just seeing how good his squad had gotten, had made Gilbert grudgingly make the decision to eventually accept Roderich as his co-Team Leader. And it was just creepy to talk about the brunette like this with his friends, and then work with him the next day while keeping a straight face.

Francis waggled his eyebrows at him. "You just sounded like Tonio, when he talks about Lovino!" he said in a sing-song voice.

Gilbert felt himself flush. "It didn't! Knock it off you loser! As if the Awesome Me would crush on someone as stuck-up as that little aristoprat."

Antonio grinned at Francis. "Hey, amigo, I know how to make things really awkward for them at work. He's drunk enough to remember this…" Standing up, the Spaniard walked behind Gilbert and put his hands over the albino's eyes, shutting them close so that Gilbert only saw black. Before he could do anything, Antonio's voice sounded beside his ear. "Picture this for me, Gil: Roderich's lying on your bed. You say that he's really stuck-up, si? So he shouldn't be attractive at all! He's not even naked or anything… just sleeping. But the window is open, and the light from the streetlamp outside is falling on the untainted skin of his face… And it's raining, so you can see his skin through his shirt, which is getting wet, and he's…"

Gilbert froze. For some reason, his inebriated brain was picturing what Antonio was narrating. There he was… Roderich, writhing around in the sheets…

For Gott's sake! Gilbert knew why this was happening…

"Don't tell me that you're scared of losing, Roddy!"

That afternoon, while his team members had been wrestling, Gilbert had challenged Roderich to a little duel. The man had agreed, of course… Gilbert had known that Roderich wouldn't back out… there was a WAR waging between them after all.

So, they had changed into appropriate clothes. Everyone had gathered around to watch... and just like that, they had begun. Gilbert had started off his attack right after the whistle had sounded, but Roderich had blocked him, his defense flawless. Throughout the whole scuffle, Roderich had never once raised a hand in attack or switched to offensive mode. Even so, Gilbert had only managed to pin the brunette down once, right at the very end. But despite being pressed to the floor, the Austrian had struggled fiercely, trying to dislodge Gilbert's legs from between his. Their lower bodies had been pressing against each other. And with one hand holding up both of Roderich's arms, the other one holding down the brunette's hips, Gilbert had felt everything through the thin cotton of their clothes.

Roderich's hair had been disheveled from their exchange of blows, his eyes so wide, uninhibited by his glasses. His face and neck had turned red from the effort, a small bluish bruise was beginning to mar his cheekbone and a thin layer of sweat was shining across his forehead. Gilbert could feel Roderich's chest going up and down under him as he breathed heavily from the exertion. His eyes had looked liked purple flames as Gilbert had smirked down at him. Bending down even lower, he had brought his lips close to Roderich's ears and growled. "I win."

And for some reason, Roderich's breath had hitched in his throat. Someone had coughed behind them right after, and Gilbert had jumped back up to his feet. He hadn't thought much about their tussle back then… simply grinned and chuckled when Fritz had thumped his back in approval. He hadn't even bothered to offer Roderich a hand to help him up. But now that he thought more about it… Gilbert's crotch had been right up against Roderich's. And when he had bent down, both their bodies had been perfectly horizontal for a moment. From their viewers' perspectives, he could now see exactly how wrong that might have looked. Was that why Roderich had reacted like that? But it wasn't like anything had really happened! Gott, he hadn't even realized until now!

Gilbert felt a blush rise up his cheeks.

"…-ing better at that, Antonio." Francis's voice sounded impressed. "He's been silent for about fifteen minutes now."

"It's nada! You just have to know what each person likes, Francis." Antonio was saying. "BDSM does it for Ludwig, and it's exotic for Gilbert..."

"Aaah, I get it…"

Gilbert snapped out of his reverie at that. "Hey, you two low-lives! I wasn't thinking about anything!"

"That's what they all say!" sighed Antonio as Francis nearly fell on the floor laughing. "They never admit that they liked it…"

"I'm serious guys!" Gilbert shouted. "If you must know…" The barman glared at their direction. Gilbert ignored him and began gesticulating wildly as he explained what had happened that day to his friends.

"I don't get it." sighed Francis afterwards. "You believe that Roderich will realize that you were making a pass at 'im and that will strain your working relationship?"

"I wasn't making a pass at him! But ja… and I don't want him to misunderstand or anything!"

Francis started to laugh. Gilbert frowned at him, annoyed. Even Antonio looked confused. "Oh, mon ami! Don't worry about that! People make passes at Roderich everyday! He never notices them."

Gilbert's brow creased. "Whatda'ya mean?"

Francis shook his head understandingly at Gilbert's incomprehension. "It's only your first day knowing 'im, Gil. You'll see what I mean soon." Francis nodded to Antonio. "What did it take for you to make him understand your feelings?"

Antonio scratched his cheek. "No sé! I just went up to him at the end of the concert and kissed him."

Francis gaped. "Well, that's one way of being direct!" he said, grinning. "And here I thought that you were being blatant with Lovino…"

"Ah, but I need more subtlety with Lovi! He's more of a…"

But Gilbert wasn't following their conversation anymore. He was staring at his mug of orange-ish beer.

Later than night, when he finally crashed at Ludwig's place, the dreams he had were strangely pleasant… for the first time in a long time.

---

It was another three months before Gilbert finally got to see the Training Arena control room.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" said Gilbert excitedly as he bounced around the small area.

"Welcome to the 36th Century, Gilbert-san." Kiku was sitting on his swiveling chair, fiddling with different knobs and settings which were restructuring the huge arena visible through the safety glass in front of them. A gale of wind stared up abruptly as Kiku created a blizzard. "So those are the weather settings?"

"Hai." replied Kiku. "But we don't have too many at the moment. I can only give you rain, wind, heat and snow. We only have seven arenas, and they are all flat… desert, frozen, grassy and that sort. We do have underwater practice and diving areas near the natatorium, and some separate climbing practice areas..."

"Shut up Kiku, this is awesome already!" Gilbert cheered, hugging the small man who struggled in his grasp.

"That is not all." came Roderich's voice behind Gilbert. "Kiku is being modest. He forgot to mention that based on the practice scenarios given, the whole arena can be booby trapped and armed, with both natural and mechanically weaponized obstacles."

"Is that cool or what!" Gilbert grinned widely. "What do you say, Roddy? Wanna give it a run with me?"

Roderich narrowed his eyes at Gilbert. "As if! I do not have time for you making more fun of me today." he said. But before the man could leave, Gilbert grabbed hold of his arm and flipped him around, a serious look on his face.

"Hey, I'm not joking. If you wanna be on my field team then I have to know what you're good at, and whether we'll work together well as a team or not." said Gilbert. Then, he released his grasp on the slender wrist and pretended to check his shoelaces. "Unless, of course, you're too pussy to try out."

It was so entertaining to wind the Austrian up. Gilbert took an immeasurable amount of pleasure out of every argument they had. He had been worrying on how he would act in front of Roderich on his second day backn after their 'tussle'… but true to what Francis had said, the brunette acted as if nothing had changed between them. Well, when he said nothing…

Roderich seemed to have a renewed passion for hating Gilbert. Everything they had done since their first day they met, every verbal spar, every word they had exchanged, had been not so discretely veiled with taunts, sarcasm and aggressive jabs... Insults which were specially designed to bring out anger in Roderich, and spur the competitiveness in Gilbert.

Like right now for example. Gilbert could practically feel the heat of Roderich's glare on his face. The man had not backed out of any one of Gilbert's challenges so far. "Kiku!" the brunette barked, before switching to a softer tone while addressing the Japanese man. "Please set up a random arena for a short practice session for us. Half a day should be enough."

Hook, line and sinker. Gilbert thought. "Hey, Kiku. Do'ya still have my customized stuff?"

"We do, Gilbert-san." Kiku grinned. "With upgrades."

.

.

Gilbert couldn't take his eyes of Roderich when he entered the changing rooms.

"What the heck are you wearing, Priss? You look like a sissy!" he guffawed.

Roderich turned towards him, scowling. He was wearing fingerless gloves, combat boots and tights made out of whatever resistant material the Intelligence used. His legs seemed to have holsters all over them. Each one had several pouches, all filled with several thumb length objects. On top, Roderich had on what looked like a silky bulletproof vest. He was also wearing a black, knee-length, sleeveless, Victorian-style coat, with a high collar and many pockets. A thin silver necklace was gleaming around his neck and his pale, thin arms were striking against the darker nuances of his clothing.

"I have told you to stop calling me that! I need these for what I do. So shut up!" said Roderich, his hands on his hips.

Gilbert made a face at Roderich, but put his hands up defensively before walking over to the large locker with his name on it. Inside, there was a green top, a flexible, temperature resistant jacket with a billion pockets, army boots and camouflage pants. Gilbert sheathed a longsword and put it around his back along with an assault rifle. On the rear pockets he put two mini machine guns and added four handguns to his front, two at his waist and two beside his ankles. His ammunition would be in his jacket pockets and criss-crossed around his chest. It was going to be a random arena so… Better safe than sorry!

"How are you going to carry all those? Are they not heavy?" asked Roderich. Gilbert realized with a flush that the brunette had been watching him change. He wondered what the brunette had thought of the angry, welt-like scars marring the skin on his back. Gilbert gave a non-committal shrug.

"Kiku makes them lightweight for me." he said, putting Yao's gadgets in his pockets next.

There was movement behind him and he felt the rifle momentarily leave his back before falling swiftly back in place. Roderich gave a frustrated sigh. "I cannot even lift that. I am carrying two semi-automatic pistols, but I rarely use them. How can you be carrying a rifle and two machine guns?"

Gilbert turned to him with a smirk on his face. "C'mon, Priss? You didn't think these babies were just for show did'ya?" he asked, flexing his arm muscles at the slightly shorter man.

Roderich's cheeks turned slightly pink as he slapped Gilbert's arm. "Do not call me that!"

"No can do, Roddy! You act like one." Gilbert chuckled, his gaze roving over Roderich pale skin as the man put on his transparent visor on over his glasses before testing his speaker. "Hey, what if the arena's cold outside? Don't you need something warmer?"

Roderich eyes flickered to Gilbert through his visor's flashing screen. The brunette was looking at Gilbert as though he had never truly seen him before. "My coat has retractable sleeves. But I appreciate your concern." There was an almost non-existent smile on his face.

Gilbert grabbed his own visor, turning away. "It's nothing." he muttered, embarrassed again for some reason.

In the three months that he had known Roderich, Gilbert had begun to tolerate the man. Not as a friend... yet, but definitely as an equal. He had to! They were freaking working together! It was not like Gilbert was ever going to admit it to the brunette anyway...

At first, Roderich had seemed a bit… okay, a lot stuck-up. But like Antonio had said, Gilbert had noticed that under the distinctly condescending exterior, the man did have a softer side to his personality.

Other than Fritz, who seemed to despise the brunette with a passion, the rest of his team actually liked Roderich very much. Gilbert had heard both men and women chattering in lowered whispers about the refined aristocrat during breaks. The junior members of Gilbert's team were constantly bringing Roderich tea, coffee and small trinkets as presents, and Gilbert had to keep telling them off for being suck-ups to the co-Team Leader… But he now understood what Francis had meant about the flirting.

Roderich didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, but he didn't seem to mind the attention either. In fact, Gilbert was sure he enjoyed every fucking moment in the spotlight. He would sometimes find Roderich smiling to himself after finding a small gift box on his desk or a flower at his computer. The Austrian even had the audacity to order Ludwig to go bring him snacks sometimes. What irritated Gilbert most was the way Ludwig would look peeved for a moment, but then, perhaps it was his German pride and chivalry, which finally made him give in and do as Roderich asked. Recently, Gilbert had taken to bringing the brunette his food… just to save time of course.

Roderich got mad at Gilbert on a daily basis. The others told him that Roderich rarely lost his cool, so Gilbert felt a thrill of pride at being the one who could incite such a reaction from the usually stoic man. It was steadily becoming a heady obsession… if his dreams were anything to go by. It was hard to come to terms to, but Gilbert had begun to wonder if he too could be turned on by men. But Gilbert couldn't get enough of the how Roderich's frame would shake and how his whole face turned strawberry red whenever Gilbert did something to irritate him. He loved bringing Roderich off his high horse and shattering that superiority. He was particularly fond of how it blew away the cold mask the Austrian always kept on and revealed the hot-blooded and fiery individual underneath.

Gilbert had soon realized that he spent most of his time with Roderich nowadays. He had reluctantly admitted to himself that Roderich was one hell of a co-Team Leader. When he wasn't being too haughty, Gilbert actually enjoyed working together with the brunette on training his squad. Again, this was another secret Gilbert planned on taking to the grave with him...

Gilbert didn't have much work to do since Fritz usually took care of all his paperwork for him. So Gilbert spent his time trying to infuriate his new found plaything. Sadly, Gilbert couldn't aggravate the man too often since Ludwig and Elizabeta would tell him off for distracting Roderich from his work. Elizabeta, with a little more 'physical' persuasion, which gave Gilbert bruises in several of his precious places.

That's how Gilbert had recently found himself helping Roderich with data analysis. It had been… interesting, to say the least. When they weren't fist-fighting (mostly swatting on Roderich's part), Gilbert spent his time goading Roderich into arguments. Sometimes, it was rare, but Gilbert would find himself having an actual conversation with Roderich. They even had these little contests sometimes, to see who could figure out more clues in the least given time, or who could track down a minor criminal faster... And despite the standoffish appearance he tried to maintain, Gilbert could tell that Roderich was relieved whenever Gilbert came over helped him solve things out. The brunette's job was a tedious and long, and help was always welcome. He was usually one of the last people to finish working every time, and after two weeks of knowing Roderich, Gilbert found himself staying back late with the man. Whenever he stayed late, Roderich strangely didn't get too riled up at Gilbert's silly nicknames or when he prodded the Austrian's side or cheeks… he would simply throw Gilbert a couple murderous looks. Once, when Gilbert had dared to muss up Roderich's prim and proper hair while helping him, the man had remained speechless for a few seconds, probably in shock, before taking a deep breath, rising slowly and heading towards the restrooms. Gilbert guessed that not lashing back was Roderich's way of showing gratitude for helping him.

Strangely enough, the almost-conversations they had sometimes didn't have as much to do with Elizabeta as Gilbert would have expected. Sure they joked about how she used to beat up Gilbert with a large frying pan- Roderich particularly found that hilarious beyond belief- but that was about it. No, their topics of discussion were more to do with… just stuff really. They argued a lot about battle strategies; Gilbert was more of an announcing 'I'm here, fuckers!' type, while Roderich preferred a more subtle approach. They had even talked about their hobbies at one point... Gilbert had nearly pissed himself when he learnt that Roderich enjoyed baking all sorts of cakes and pastries. Roderich had laughed right back at him when he had learnt that Gilbert kept a dair— a journal! It was a strong, hard, manly journal! Gilbert had been oddly pleased when Roderich said that he had thought Gilbird was cute…

For Gilbert, the fact that Roderich used to be a classical pianist didn't come as a shock at all… even though he had to pretend that it was. Gilbert wasn't about to tell the brunette that he spent time talking with his friends about the man's past life and relationships with them.

But since learning about his musical talents, Gilbert had given Roderich a new nickname... 'Little Master'. He couldn't help it. The way Roderich walked and talked, it seemed as though the brunette was living in the 18th Century. But what Gilbert found really weird was the 360 degrees Roderich's snobbish personality turned when he had learnt that Gilbert played music as well. It had happened just last week, when Roderich had invited Gilbert, Ludwig and Feliciano over to his home, which was a large, fucking mansion by the way, for dinner.

"Oh please Roderich, play something pretty! I love to hear you play!" Feliciano had pleaded after a fulfilling five-course meal.

"I do not think—" Roderich began, but Ludwig had cut him off.

"Just play something of Beethoven's…" Ludwig insisted. "Or perhaps a Chopin if you wish to express your anger and disgust towards me?" If Gilbert didn't known better, he'd have said that West and Roderich were enjoying some private joke…

Well, he obviously didn't know better, and was missing out on something since Roderich's lips formed a bashful smile at Ludwig's words.

Gilbert hadn't known how close Roderich was to his brother until the brunette let Ludwig actually get away with pulling the man's rogue lock of hair in annoyance, when Roderich had asked him to get the cake out of the oven.

"You can't keep ordering me around, Roderich! You have to be more self-sufficient! I've told you a million times…"

"Stop touching my hair, Ludwig!" Roderich had only screeched, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Is that normal behavior for them?" Gilbert had asked Feliciano quietly.

"Ve~ Roderich is so cute when he's flustered like that!" Feli had giggled.

But Gilbert had felt strange as he had watched Ludwig and Roderich interact. Why was the brunette flustered? It had seemed so out of character for the Austrian man… but then again, how much did Gilbert really know Roderich? He was closer to Ludwig and Feliciano than to him. After entering the mansion, Feliciano had even kissed the brunette on both cheeks, but well… that's Feliciano for you. Gilbert guessed that it was normal, they had lived together for a year after all.

But he was beginning to feel a bit awkward. Jolting out of his thoughts, Gilbert had watched Roderich and Ludwig enter a silent staring contest, before the brunette finally gave up and rose, throwing his napkin onto his plate.

They had followed him to the large music room. In its middle sat a grand piano, elegant with intricate designs on the keys and on the sides. The moment Roderich had taken his seat, Gilbert had seen how his whole demeanor changed. He had looked serene… calm… more like a boy than a man really. Carefree for once. Like he was finally in his element. Long thin fingers had glided across black and white keys and melody he played had truly been beautiful. In the middle of one of the pieces he was playing, Gilbert had recognized the music to be Beethoven's Opus 56: Triple Concerto. Not wanting to be outmatched, he had grabbed a violin off one the racks on the wall on impulse and had joined in.

It had been somewhat embarrassing. Few people knew that he had learnt classical music as a kid… It was supposed to be for sissies! But it was worth it, to see Roderich's astounded expression as he gaped at Gilbert's smirking face. Ludwig had given his brother an odd look as he and Feliciano clapped at the end, but Gilbert had ignored it. Ruffling Roderich's feathers was an awesome pastime!

When Gilbert had walked up to Roderich, and tipped his chin up with a finger to close the man's mouth, he had been taken aback to see an almost bashful look cross over the brunette's face. Gilbert liked small things like that, they kinda inflated up his already humongous ego. Like the way Roderich's nose would scrunch up slightly when he was affronted, the way his eyes lit up in fury when Gilbert called him 'Priss' or 'Roddy', how he always blushed when he was embarrassed, the way the red would spread over his pale cheeks…

Gilbert jerked out of his musings, back into the present, shaking his head. He really was becoming obsessed.

"Ready?"Roderich was asking. "Com check."

Gilbert hurriedly turned his own on, wincing slightly when the visor's bright blue screen came to life showing him his vitals, weaponry and field specifications, along with Roderich's heart rate in one tiny corner. "Check" he finally replied as they walked towards the practice area.

.

.

Gilbert groaned as his boot landed on another puddle as they walked through the rainforest. They had been placed slap bang in the middle of one, with only one message on their visors: MISSION FAILED. So this was a survival practice then, most likely on enemy territory. Gilbert couldn't care less. He had lost his jacket after the tree he'd been leaning against for shade had 'suddenly' caught fire. He had to reluctantly abandon his heavy rifle after getting stuck for the fifth time among thorny brambles and hanging branches. Even without the extra weight, Gilbert was sweating furiously... he would have terrible sunburns his ivory skin later on.

After half an hour of struggling through the prickly undergrowth, Gilbert had unsheathed his longsword and was using it to cut the dense foliage in their way. Roderich too had taken out a long knife from somewhere in that coat of his and was helping Gilbert make a path.

"Oh, come the fuck on! We've been walking for hours already!" Gilbert complained. "This place can't be bigger than two soccer fields! We're going around in circles!"

"We are not." said Roderich, his voice becoming relatively impatient. "And it does not matter anyway, since Kiku can switch the arena around and make it look like a new place. Best think of this place as a real forest and not the practice area."

Gilbert glared at the brunette, who looked rather comfortable in his surroundings. He only had a very fine sheen of sweat on his forehead and throat.

"Why're we even in this weather? We're going to Russia for the mission… not anywhere near the fucking Equator! Let's send up one of Yao's levitating trackers." Gilbert suggested for the third time.

"We cannot. You know that. This could very well be enemy territory-"

"Ja, fine…" Gilbert sneezed. "Roddy, is that a riding crop on your hip?"

"What? Oh, this…" said Roderich, flicking the black leather with a finger. I took it once just as a precautionary measure against Francis... But it came in handy during the practice so I thought that I would keep it."

"You are just a whole different breed of weird, aren't you?" said Gilbert, shaking his head.

Roderich gave a choked scoff. "Says the man with the world-sized ego… In fact, I think yours is even bigger than that."

Gilbert's eyes glittered maliciously. "It sure is Roddy! But how the heck did you see it… you weren't watching me change were you?"

Roderich spluttered for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes dangerously at Gilbert. "Stop twisting my words around at your pleasure. I do not wish to talk of such idiocies-"

"Fine, then tell me why you broke up?" interrupted Gilbert, astonishing himself. Roderich froze beside him. On his visor, Gilbert saw the brunette's heartbeat stutter slightly before normalizing again.

"What are you talking about?" Roderich asked tight-lipped, before he continued walking and hacking at the branches in his way.

"With Liz." Gilbert specified." How'd— Why'd you two get a divorce? It doesn't seem like she hates you or anything. So I don't see why."

Roderich shoulders fell back. "We both decided that it was better to remain friends." Roderich had a sad smile on his face. "It was never meant to be. Charity cases never are." he sounded sad.

"What the heck does that mean?"Gilbert watched as a myriad of emotions crossed Roderich's face. He remained silent for a long while and Gilbert thought it best not push it. He was sure that the brunette was angry with him, but the man suddenly took him by surprise when he began to speak in a low voice.

"We did not marry for love. I had just recently broken up from another relationship when I met Elizabeta. She was looking for someone who would be willing to acknowledge and respect her strong will. I could do that. She was working in the Intelligence already at the time, and I was just a classical pianist." Roderich's gaze met Gilbert's. "I could hardly reject such a fiery spirit just like that, surely you know what I am talking about."

Gilbert pulled his eyes away from the violet orbs. "Ja, Liz sure does have that effect of people."

"So after a few charming dates, we got married three years ago. The divorce was filed last year." said Roderich. "But we were never really serious… so…"

"…Horseshit." Gilbert said suddenly.

Roderich raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Are you saying that you used Liz to get over Antonio?" Gilbert rounded on him. "Cause she looked like she really liked you, maybe she still does, so you can't blame her! You're the one who got into the relationship with halfhearted feelings, you stupid priss!"

Roderich remained silent for a while, his mouth slightly open in shock. When he finally spoke, there was a wry grin on his face. "I cannot believe that your words just made me feel guilty. Maybe you are right." He looked up at Gilbert. "I see now why Elizabeta would have liked you. I had been wondering what she had seen in you. But I guess that even you have these rare moments of sanity and gallantry."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Gilbert, affronted.

"Nothing." anwered Roderich, a thoughtful look on his face. "Just that this is the first time I am seeing a genuinely serious expression on your face, and not that constantly self-satisfied smirk of yours… It makes you look more mature, do you know that?"

This conversation was getting way deeper and much more personal than what Gilbert was used to with Roderich. It felt… strange. Gilbert dropped the seriousness and pulled back on his crazy face. "Shut up, Priss! Awesome Me always looks cool!"

Roderich shook his head at Gilbert.

"You know… I still have the ring." he said after a while, tugging his silver necklace out from underneath his vest. Two rings hung from the chain, one was a plain silver band and the other was golden with a beautifully cut emerald set on it. "The silver one is hers." he added with a nostalgic smile.

Gilbert felt something clench inside him at the sight. The ring was material proof… Evidence that people had moved on without him, uncaring… A hand suddenly clasped his shoulder.

"Shush! Did you head that?" Roderich voice whispered in his ear as he quickly crouched down low. Gilbert realized that they had reached a small clearing.

Crack!

Gilbert whisked around, pistol ready in hand as he turned towards the sound. Something large was slithering among the bushes around them, circling him.

Then Roderich shouted, "Gilbert, get down—"

But it was too late, a large black cat came bounding out of the foliage and attempted a nick at Gilbert's leg with large claws. A PANTHER, his visor identified. There was a loud woosh and the knife Roderich and been using was suddenly embedded on the ground where the panther's paw had been not a second ago.

The big cat backed off a few steps, then snarled a Roderich. But Gilbert moved in front of the brunette and aimed his gun at its head. The shot came too late. The animal was a blur as it lunged forward, knocking Gilbert off his feet. Gilbert tried to scramble away but the cat's heavy paws handed on his chest, the sharp claws ripping through his tank top. The panther was as large as Gilbert was tall, if not bigger. Gilbert had always thought that panthers were smaller… But this animal didn't look very fake as it loomed over Gilbert, the stench of its breath blowing over his face, yellow eyes menacing. Gilbert's visor gleamed red as it gave him a 'FATALITY IMMINENT' warning. Using all the strength he could muster, Gilbert grabbed the beast's paws off his chest and somehow managed to twist it around, putting it on its back. The animal writhed under him, but Gilbert locked his leg muscles around the panther's sides, straining to keep it in place.

"Stop moving!" came Roderich's voice behind him.

"How the fuck do I do that?" Gilbert asked as he tried to keep the panther's snapping jaws away from his forearms. "You wanna try switching places, Priss?"

There was another woosh and the panther lower body fell slack as the animal let out a yowl of pain. Hands grabbed the back of Gilbert's tanktop and dragged him away from the cat's squirming body. Gilbert watched as the black creature seemed utterly incapable of turning back on its belly. On closer inspection, he saw that the panther's body was glittering with sharp, star-shaped disks and small knives. Looking up, Gilbert saw that the inside of Roderich's coat was decorated with an array of sharp darts, long daggers, spikes, throwing knives and more silver, star-shaped disks on it. Roderich pulled out a small triangular shaped throwing knife which glimmered in the artificial sunlight and pressed it against his bottom lip. Deep in thought, he watched the panther trying to crawl away on two legs, his eyes remorseless. Then with a graceful flick of his wrist, the knife's edge was embedded deep into the animal's neck and it stilled completely.

"Finally." Roderich sighed, turning to Gilbert with a relieved look on his face. "I apologize for taking so long, I am not very familiar with the vital pressure points in felines."

Gilbert simply stared at Roderich as if he were seeing him through a whole new light. "The heck Roddy?"

"What do you mean 'the heck'?" asked Roderich tetchily.

"Argh!" Gilbert was literally freaking out. For three months now, all he had seen of Roderich was his delicate and prim way of dealing with others linguistically, only with his wit, never raising finger or fist as Gilbert usually did… Now, he was suddenly some crime-fighting badass? Fine, alright … Gilbert knew that Roderich had to be good, after having successfully led his team for two years… But still! "When the fuck did you learn to do that shit?"

Roderich shrugged. "A couple of years ago… I am a fast learner. And Gilbert, how about you try not cursing for a matter of… I do not know, two minutes?" he asked sardonically. "Try being the essential word."

"Don't fuc—I mean, don't change the subject!" snapped Gilbert, rounding on Roderich. He grabbed the lapels of Roderich's coat and spread them apart wide to be able to see the inside. "Wow… what are those?"

"Blades, you dummkopf. Surely you can tell that they ar—"

"Ja, I know what they are!" returned Gilbert irritably. "I was asking you what they're made of."

"Oh." Roderich's hand flashed quicker than lightning and he got hold of a star shaped disk. He put it close to Gilbert's face and the albino recoiled, letting go of the Austrian's coat. "Get back here, Gilbert. Here…"

Roderich pulled Gilbert's arm toward himself, placing the small disc on the palm of Gilbert's hand. The object had been made with fine craftsmanship. It was incredibly sharp, perfectly symmetrical and terribly lethal in the right hands. The center of the disc had a black substance covering it… possibly to protect Roderich's fingers while he held them.

"Most of my blades are titanium. They are teflon coated and serrated to cut through bone and muscle… with enough velocity of course. Their shapes have perfect aerodynamic precision."

"These are cool..." said Gilbert, turning the sharp edges around carefully in his fingers. "Who designed these?"

"They are actually a collaboration of Yao and Kiku's." said Roderich. "It is their second successful one after Arthur's arrows.

"Ja…"

"Speaking of which, Gilbert... How is it that you missed your shot?" There was an almost deprecating, sly sort of look on Roderich's classy features. Gilbert chucked the disc in his hand right at his smug face. Roderich tilted his head sideways, almost lazily, and the disc hit a tree behind him, bouncing off with a pathetic pling.

"It's not how hard you throw it Gilbert, it's the swing. You need the right amount of distance for the maximum acceleration and impact speed."

"Just shut up, Priss." said Gilbert, pulling on the levers of his small machine gun. Why had his shot gone wrong? When he had fired, something had felt slightly off. There was a click and couple rounds fell out of the gun onto his hand. "What the— okay, who the hell replaced my 7 mm Winchesters with 6 mm Remingtons?"

"That would be our weapon's master, Vash Zwingli." Roderich said. "According to him, the Remingtons are lighter and faster. You'll be able to fire 600 rounds per minute with those."

"Ja? Tell Zwingli not to screw with the rounds in my babies!" He shoved the bullets back in roughly. "I want my fucking Winchesters back!"

Roderich glanced at his watch. "Just as I thought. You barely managed a minute without cursing. Oh, what am I saying! That must be a new record for you, right?" he exclaimed disdainfully.

"Don't get smart with me, Little Master." Gilbert picked up his longsword from beside the mechanic panther and started to walk towards the other side of the clearing. "Just don't."

.

.

"I knew that real panthers were smaller." Gilbert was muttering again. "Advanced mechanics my ass… that automaton thing could have killed Awesome Me..."

Roderich rolled his eyes as they trudged on. The trees were sparser now. "They are quite safe Gilbert. The machines are programmed to not break skin. They completely shut down if they ever draw blood."

"Well if this training is supposed to be realistic then they should at least make the animals life-size!" grumbled Gilbert.

"Oh, stop complaining. I watched Alfred tussle with a grisly during our two day practice mission." said Roderich. "He does not look like he is strong enough… I mean, he is muscular! But who can be expected to fight a bear? Arthur told me that he swung a bison around and managed to throw it during their practice. I would not be surprised if that were true."

Gilbert snorted. He felt slightly annoyed for some reason. "It's nothing special, Alfred's got 307+. Besides, I'm sure that bears are no big deal. Awesome Me is strong enough to fight a grisly too!" Gilbert thumped his pale chest, which was showing through his now slashed white vest, and glared at Roderich as though challenging him to deny it.

Roderich looked amusedly at Gilbert antics. "I never said that you were not. Why would I say that, Gilbert? I watched you wrestle a panther."

"Damn straight!" said Gilbert, sounding rather pleased himself, not noticing Roderich teasing smile. "By the way Priss, how'd you become a knife expert? Was that part of pianist training?"

Roderich gave a small, unexpected laugh. It was a gentle, musical sound. Gilbert decided that he liked it much better than the haughty grimace Roderich usually saved for him. "No. But I learnt fencing as a child. My teacher found out that I had a natural talent at hitting my marks and it just went on from there, I guess."

"Wow. A classical pianist… a fencing teacher." Gilbert's grin widened slowly and he prodded Roderich's cheek. "You really were a Little Master weren't you? That's why you're so prissy all the time!"

Roderich turned to him with an irked expression on his face. "Shut up, Gilbert! I have told you to stop calling me— never mind, I shall not even bother…"

"Kesesesesese…."

Moments later, Gilbert spoke up again. "So you did these practice missions with everyone else already?"

"Yes." said Roderich. "One must understand his or her partners' strengths and weaknesses. Standard protocol."

"How'd it go with the rest?"

"Good." replied Roderich. "Arthur is especially proficient with a bow and arrows. His quiver can hold up to a hundred retractable ones…"

Gilbert waggled a finger. "I knew you'd like the Brit. You two're like blood brothers or something… Always so stuck-up!"

"If that means that I am not uncivilized and foul-mouthed as you are, it is fine by me."

"Sure… " said Gilbert.

Roderich scowled. "No, I am being serious. I cannot understand why you keep putting everything beneath yourself-"

Gilbert felt a jolt of anger at that. "Me? You're the one to talk! Acting so high and noble all the time… Well you know what? I've seen your type of people before… and to tell the truth, you make me feel kinda sick."

And that's how it happened. One minute they'd be having a normal, almost civil conversation… and then it would turn ugly.

Roderich hacked off a branch with much more force than necessary. "The feeling is mutual… However, it still does not explain why you are so full of yourself."

Gilbert put a hand over his chest, pretending to be shocked. "Gee, am I? I wonder what gave that away!"

Roderich glared at him. "Is there anything else you even care about, other than yourself?"

Gilbert placed a finger on his chin, thoughtfully. "Let me think… ja! There is something… my pet bird! His name's Gilbird—"

"It does seem hopeless, but I cannot help thinking that there is something more to you." Roderich interjected stiffly, frowning. "…that you are a better person."

Gilbert's face fell, he suddenly felt very hollow at Roderich's words. A long time ago, he had felt the same. "Sorry I couldn't live up to your expectations, Priss." he said through his teeth.

"You could at least try to—"

"Hey, when was the last time you tried doing something nice for a person other than yourself?" Gilbert asked, losing his patience.

Roderich's scowl deepened. "I have definitely done much more than you."

Gilbert didn't reply to that. He simply clenched his teeth and ripped a thick branch off a tree… which wasn't necessarily getting in their way.

There was a sigh beside him and Roderich put a hand over his forehead. "I am sorry. That was out of line."

Roderich was apologizing to him?

"…Gilbert?" ventured Roderich, when Gilbert remained silent.

"Forget about it, Priss… I hate you anyway."

"Really? I had no idea…" Roderich gave a half-smile. "If it helps, I do not particularly like you either. In fact, you are the only person I know who can make me swear."

Gilbert looked at him sideways, grinning. "No shit… But that makes me special, ja?"

Roderich shook his head disbelievingly as they continued trekking the forest.

"So you were saying? Alfred's a circus freak and Arthur's Robin Hood…" Gilbert trailed off, waiting for Roderich to elaborate.

The brunette raised his brows. "Pretty much. Your friend Francis was rather irritating, to tell the truth. We were out on a frozen tundra and he kept suggesting that we shed our clothes and huddle together for warmth… naked."

Gilbert chortled. "Ja! Francis would say that! What did'ya do? Did'ya let him?"

Roderich suddenly blushed red, looking highly affronted. "Of course not! What sort of an individual do you think be to be?"

Gilbert stopped walking and turned to Roderich. "I dunno Little Master, but you've gotta be some guy to attract Liz's attention… And Francis goes for either beautiful girls or gorgeous pretty-boys. Even Antonio said that you're hot." He gave Roderich a once over. "Although, I don't particularly see what they might have seen in you."

Roderich's lips curled in fury. "If you just implied that I am ugly—"

"Ouch, that hit a spot!"Gilbert cackled and walked towards the smaller man, who was backing up against a tree.

"Wait… What—"

"Calm down, Priss. I just wanna look."

I don't get why Antonio would say that you're the prettiest guy he'd seen. Gilbert thought, as he raised Roderich's chin with a finger and lifted the visor off the brunette's head. Roderich's high cheekbones were dusted with pink as Gilbert brought his face closer to his. Gilbert had to admit that Roderich looked somewhat adorable with that beauty spot and that unruly curl of his. His full lips were slightly open as he watched Gilbert. The artificial sunbeams reflected off his angular features, highlighting and shading all the right parts. He's kinda hot like this… No wonder Liz wanted to have him all for herself… but hell if I'm ever gonna admit that to his sissy face! Gilbert thought. He avoided the expressive depths of Roderich's violet eyes. The orbs were wide behind his glasses, and gazing at Gilbert with some undistinguishable emotion in them. The lashes were too long, the eyes were too wide and… did he mention that they eyes were too wide?

That's when Gilbert noticed on his own visor that Roderich's heart rate had skyrocketed.

"Jeez, chill out Roddy!" Gilbert said, backing away, feeling unexpectedly hurt. "Am I that scary?" He wondered what he looked like in Roderich's eyes. Probably like a freak with white hair, devilishly scarlet eyes and scars all over his body. But Roderich simply shoved at his shoulder, hard.

"Oh, do not be so nonsensical, you brute! I am not scared of anything." Roderich said defiantly as he slammed his visor back on. "It is just that— you have never spoken about Antonio before."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Antonio? Why'd I speak of him?"

Roderich shrugged his shoulders. "I heard that you are good friends."

Why was he looking avoiding Gilbert's eyes like that? Gilbert felt something fall in his stomach. "Priss… do you still like hi—"

Roderich glowered at him. "Of course not! I just… wonder sometimes."

"Well he's doing awesome." Gilbert said, grinning at Roderich. "Without you."

Roderich crossed his arms across his chest. "I would speak more carefully if I were you. I am armed at the moment and if you do not wish to lose any of your vital regions, you will shut up."

Gilbert dropped his grin immediately. "Alright! Just chill, Roddy. Don't hurt my five meters…"

Roderich gave an exasperated huff and leant his head back against the tree. "You are so immature Gilbert. I do not see why you have to be so- moss."

"I hav'ta be so what?" asked Gilbert confusedly.

Roderich's eyes were wide. "There is moss on this tree!" he said, turning around, his fingers tracing the fluffy, green substance on the tree bark he had been leaning against.

"Great! Should we eat it? 'Cause I'm really hungry!"

Roderich turned to Gilbert, rolling his eyes. "It means that there is a water source not far away. It has been more than six hours now. We will need water if we do not wish to suffer from major dehydration in this climate."

Gilbert looked away sullenly, scratching his neck. "Ja, I knew that…"

"Of course you did." snapped Roderich, his eyes contemplating the ground in front of them for a while before he decided to take the muddier trail to the left.

Gilbert tried not to snigger at every single one of Roderich's winces as his boots slipped deeper into the steadily damper forest floor. Neither of them spoke again until they reached the sudden edge of the forest, where water was gushing by in what looked like a narrow, but turbulent river. Gilbert was impressed that Roderich had actually managed to find the place. The water seemed clean enough so they drank their fill before standing back on the riverbank.

"So are we crossing or not?" Gilbert asked after another moment of silence.

Roderich had a calculating look on his face. "I do not think that is wise. The water currents look strong here and I cannot tell the depth of this river."

Gilbert whined. "Aw, come on! This is an arena, Little Master! How deep can a river be? You afraid to get wet?"

"Do not be foolish! It looks too dangerous!" Roderich's brows crumpled.

"Roddy, this is stupid." said Gilbert more forcefully. "This is obviously an edge of the rainforest and across the river is what I looks like a farm. If we just cross over to safer land—"

"That safer land is not even protected by a fence! The river seems to be the only natural barrier between there and this forest, which is all the more reason to consider crossing it dangerous!" Roderich retorted.

Gilbert frowned with impatience. "So what do ya want us to do? Trek back into the forest?"

Roderich shook his head. "We can cross at another point. We can go around—"

"That'll take forever. You know that, Roddy." interjected Gilbert. "Besides, it'd be nice to get some actual practice out of this session. All we've done is walk."

Gilbert stepped forward until his boots were underwater. He was stopped suddenly, by a soft touch on his arm. "Please stop. I am sure that even Kiku does not have the soft or hardware to instantaneously dry up a river if something goes wrong." said Roderich.

Gilbert felt something flip in his stomach at the genuine look of concern on Roderich's face but he merely shrugged of the man's hand and threw his visor and sword to him while walking into the river until the water was up to his chest. Flecks of foam were spraying over his face. "You need to chill out, Roddy. What's the worst that can happen? See, I can still feel the bott—"

That's when the rocks shifted from under Gilbert's feet and his whole body was plunged underwater. Gilbert inwardly cursed, he hadn't had the time to even take in a breath before slipping under. He tried not to panic when he saw that the river was as deep as the height of two fully grown men. The need for air made Gilbert instinctively kick his legs to reach the surface, but his boots and guns were weighing him down. Bubbles of air were rushing out of his mouth and nose as the water's current pulled him away further downriver.

Then suddenly, there was another splash and Gilbert watched, astonished, as Roderich's body sunk under the water. The man had taken off his coat, visor and boots, and was looking around frantically, his hair floating around him like a halo as he whipped his head around. The moment he spotted Gilbert, Roderich swiftly turned his body underwater and propelled himself towards Gilbert with graceful movements. When he reached Gilbert, he gestured wildly for him to stay still and did and underwater backflip, diving down lower to reach Gilbert's feet. He fumbled with the laces of the army boots which were pulling Gilbert down like lead and then unhooked his heavy guns. Gilbert needed desperately to breathe, there was no air left in his lungs. He kicked off his shoes and pushed the water with his legs trying to reach the opposite bank. The instant he felt solid rock, Gilbert's hands scrambled to find something he could latch on to, his lungs were bursting, he seemed to be so close— at last! With a gasp Gilbert felt his head break the surface and managed several ragged intakes of breath, shaking his head to dislodge the water.

"Tha' was... was something, huh?" Gilbert huffed out, turning for Roderich. "I told ya awesome me could handl— Roddy?"

Gilbert broke off then, when he realized that the brunette was nowhere to be seen. A terrible dread filled Gilbert and he swore loudly. Without a single moment's hesitation, Gilbert took in a sharp breath through his nose and kicked back off with his feet, diving underwater. As the air bubbles around him cleared, Gilbert's eyes quickly found Roderich's prone form resting on the underwater rocks of the riverbed. Gilbert's heart was thudding hard in his chest. Roderich looked peaceful, as though he could be sleeping. Thrusting himself forward, Gilbert reached the brunette in a matter of seconds. Circling one strong arm around Roderich's slim waist, Gilbert fought the force of the current and pushed off the riverbed. Three small words kept repeating themselves inside his head. Please be okay.

---

"…erich! Hey! Ro…"

Something was suffocating Roderich from the inside, but he didn't even have the strength to breathe. It hurt less if he stayed still, his mind felt clouded…

"…not funny!..."

Roderich wondered how he could get that grating voice to shut up. It was rather irritating. If only he could slee—

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Roderich felt pressure on his chest, pushing. Warm hands were fumbling over his body… it was clearing the fog in his mind and… did someone just strike him across the face?

"…oderich! C'mon man! Stay with me!"

The voice suddenly pierced through Roderich's haze and he opened his eyes wide, his breath coming in with a sharp pain in his chest. He heaved to a side and coughed up a gallon of water, wheezing slightly. There was a strangled laugh beside him and then Roderich was surrounded in an iron grip by strong, pale arms. The body touching his was all strong plains and muscles, and Roderich could feel Gilbert's heart beating fast against his chest. He pushed weakly and the arms and they let go. Turning away, Roderich coughed up more water. A comforting hand rubbed soothing circles on his back. When his eyes met Roderich's, Gilbert's cherry-red eyes were full of relief.

"That was so un-awesome. I shouldn't hav—I mean Roddy, I'm sor—" Gilbert frowned. He seemed to be unable to get the words out. "It was my faul-"

"It is fine, Gilbert." Roderich interrupted hastily as the albino rambled. His throat felt raw. "I think that you just saved my life. That should make up for it."

They were sitting a few feet from the river, on the opposite back, further downriver from where Roderich had jumped off. He could see their visors, weapons and his coat lying where he had discarded them his hurry. He'd have to retrieve them later. Roderich glanced around to find that they were in a berry field. "It seems that you were correct about this being a safe area."

But Gilbert was shaking his head, his face grim. "That doesn't matter. I should've listened to you, trusted your judgment. It would've been safer to go around. Training's also about learning how to deal with situations, ja? Making the right decisions? I just made a bad call."

Roderich was slightly surprised as the white-haired man was actually looking remorseful. He didn't know that Gilbert would even be capable such emotions. He had seemed rather uncouth all this time. But then again… the man did play the violin. Roderich would never have expected such a brute to be able to handle such a refined instrument with such expertise.

"Really Gilbert, there is no need to kill yourself over this. It was moronic…. but this is you we are talking about." Gilbert winced. Roderich had expected him to laugh it off. He hesitated a bit when Gilbert continued looking morose. "If it makes you feel any better, during my practice with Alfred, he made a fire to keep us warm in the middle of the night."

Gilbert's pale eyebrows furrowed. "I thought that's what you're supposed to do, to keep wild animals away and stuff."

Roderich's eyes moved skyward. "Yes, but we were in enemy territory, Gilbert. They found us in a matter of minutes."

"Oh right…" Gilbert lips twisted into a wry smile. "Thanks, Priss." he said, staring Roderich right in the eyes. For some reason, Roderich felt his breath catch in his throat. He awkwardly raised a hand to his face, to adjust his thin glasses… which weren't there.

"Gilbert, have you seen my spectacles?"

Gilbert's hand moved backwards. Then he paused, staring intently at Roderich with a strange look on his face. "…No." he said. "They probably got lost it in the river. Can ya see stuff without 'em?"

Roderich nodded. "I do not really require them, to tell the truth. They are mostly for… aesthetic purposes." he wondered why he was even telling the other man.

Roderich felt heat go up his spine when Gilbert's ruby eyes flitted over his wet body, lingering on several places. "You look okay without them, Little Master." he finally said uncaringly, shaking his head and spraying water in all directions from his white hair. Then, he got up and threw his arms upwards, stretching. Roderich stood up as well, slightly unsteady on his feet. He couldn't help but notice the way Gilbert's muscles rippled from his movement. "This session's ending soon right?"

Roderich glanced at his expensive, Swiss wristwatch. "Soon." His heart was pounding loudly in his chest. Roderich placed a hand over it, brows crinkling.

"Does it hurt?" Roderich looked up to see Gilbert watching him again. The albino scratched at his neck, gesturing at Roderich's chest. "I think I pushed too hard. You weren't breathing and I've never done CPR before. I panicked."

"No, it is nothing." Roderich let his hand fall, then frowned at Gilbert. "Although, I think I felt you slapping my face."

Gilbert looked sheepish. "Ja… about that..."

"It is all right. I am breathing right now so we know that your method of resuscitation worked." Roderich tilted his head to the side, a small, naughty grin on his face. "Just… please tell me that you did not have to kiss me."

Gilbert immediately snapped his head back to him, eyes large. Roderich could see a red flush rising up his neck. "Uh, no we didn't ki—I mean… I didn't touc—put my mouth on… yours."

Roderich was chuckling internally. He couldn't help but find that endearing. He could see why Elizabeta would have dated this man. No matter how much the albino obviously hated him, the man had saved his life. Roderich thought that it was a trust good enough to build on. At that moment, there was a noise of rushing air and the trunk of a wide tree a few meters away from them opened to reveal a passageway.

"Oh, finally!" breathed Roderich, rushing towards the door as he realized what a state his hair was in. He'd have to restyle the whole thing again.

He didn't see Gilbert's confused look or his blushing face or the way his eyes followed the movement of Roderich's wet body, clad in black silk and tights.

.

.

"…for the last time, I don't like him!"

"Oh, please don't insult me Angleterre. I come from the country of l'Amour! I think I know love when I see it!"

"Go fuck yourself!"

"With pleasure… Angleterre, you do remember that I can tell when you are lying, right?"

"How dare you! Just because you have some fancy superpower does not mean…"

Roderich could hear Arthur and Francis bickering outside the changing rooms as he exited with Gilbert, both of them in clean shirts and pants. It had been rather strange at first. Gilbert had been refusing to meet his eyes in the changing rooms. Then after a while, he seemed to return to his old, hyper self and had squeezed shampoo into Roderich's hair while he had been styling it, shouting "You're such a sissy, Roddy!". That led to another angry bout between them before Roderich had stalked off to the showers for a second time, leaving Gilbert cackling at the lockers. He had been surprised to see that the albino was waiting for him when he returned. Despite having known the man for only mere months, Roderich felt as though he knew Gilbert quite well. Perhaps it was due the fact that they had previously been with the same woman? Or maybe because he had been helping track Gilbert for almost two years now, at a personal request from Ludwig? Or perhaps it was something eyes entirely? Roderich wasn't sure.

"Why the bloody hell would I like him?" Arthur was practically shouting now, very red in the face. "He's arrogant, selfish—"

"Yes… I think I see a word appearing on your face." Francis interjected. "It spells… DENIAL."

"Hey! Woah!" Gilbert's energetic voice appeared from behind Roderich. "Calm the fuck down guys! Franny leave Eyebrows alone… Psych! Tell me what's goin' on so that I can tease him with ya!" he grinned mischievously.

But Francis was busy watching Roderich... appraisingly. He approached Roderich and leaned in close to his face. "Mon cher, you look even more charmant without those glasses of yours. The beautiful color in your beaux yeux is looking… very striking." he spoke in a low voice.

Roderich opened his mouth, then closed it, feeling a terrific blush rise up his cheeks. He looked at Arthur, pleading with his eyes for him to intervene. Surprisingly, it was Gilbert who suddenly put his arm around Francis's shoulder, pulling him away from Roderich in the process.

"Aww! Look Franny, you're making Prinzessin blush!" he said, laughing. Roderich didn't even bother to berate him for the new nickname.

Arthur smacked them both on the heads, scowling. "All right, knock it off lads! Let's go Frog, we have work to do!"

"Coming, cheri!" Francis waved mockingly at Arthur's retreating back.

"So, you're doin' practice with Eyebrows?" Gilbert asked.

Francis sighed. "Oui. Your brother insists that we learn to cooperate better before this next mission. We failed the last five practices we were in."

He turned to Roderich again. "By the way, your trigger-happy boyfriend is here." Francis paused, looking pleadingly at him. "Make 'im 'appy will you? 'E's still thinks I'm messing around with Lili, and I swear, for once it wasn't me!"

"Francis. He's not—"

But Francis was already walking backwards toward the changing room doors, where Arthur was waiting with a scowl on his face. "Okay, I have to run now, bye! Now rosbif, about your dream boy-"

"…Listen to me very carefully, Frog! I've neve-"

And with that the door slammed shut, and the squabbling voices of both men slowly fading away.

Roderich shook his head, sighing. "I must say, even we work together better than those two." he turned to Gilbert. "He'll be at the armory then. Will you be accompanying me Gilbert? You can talk to Vash about your bullets."

"Wha— ja, sure." said Gilbert, falling into step beside him.

After a few moments of quiet, the albino coughed into his hand. "So Little Master, who's this boyfriend Francis was talking about?"

Roderich tsked. "It is a running joke around here. Vash is not my boyfriend. He just prefers talking with me more than with anybody else."

"Why's that?" Gilbert questioned, tugging on the strand of hair Roderich never managed to gel down.

"We were close friends as children. Stop that-" replied Roderich, spinning away from the albino's hands with an irritated frown. "He used to care for me all the time, rescuing me from bullies and all that. Then we had a fall out… But I guess that Vash still cares, at least enough to supply us with the weaponry and not the mobsters and other gangs that often come to him."

Gilbert started walking backwards, his hands in his pockets, facing Roderich. "You didn't seem to mind when Francis called him your boyfriend." he said teasingly.

Roderich let out a huff. "Well he was not the one who started that anyway. Matthias was the one who came up with that first."

Gilbert smirked and prodded Roderich on the cheek. "He's one awesome guy!"

Roderich pushed the hand away, biting his lower lip. "He's a dummkopf... and so are yo—"

"Hey, Roderich! I've been waiting for an hour now you inconsiderate Austrian!" shouted a voice a little down the corridor through which they were walking.

Vash was standing in front of the armory doors with his arms folded across his chest. His green shirt put his grass green irises into prominence and his blond bangs reached his narrowed eyes.

"I see your wearing that Rolex I gave you, so you better have a good excuse for being late!" the blond said as they approached.

"Blame this idiot then." said Roderich, pointing at Gilbert. "He put shampoo all over my head and made me go shower twice after our practice."

Vash eyes flickered to the albino standing behind Roderich. He glowered slightly at Gilbert's lazy stance. Gilbert too looked like he was sizing the other man up, a rather rough expression on his face.

"Ah-hem, shall we go in?" Roderich tried, wondering what the sudden animosity was about.

Vash's eyes snapped back to his and softened slightly. "What happened to you glasses Roderich?"

"He lost them." drifted Gilbert's voice as they entered the room. "In a river. He almost drowned today. I had to rescue him." he grinned wolfishly. "Had to use CPR… didn't I, Roddy?"

Roderich shook his head in exasperation at the man. "Are you always going to bring that up from now on?" he asked Gilbert, but the albino was watching Vash intently, a satisfied expression on his face.

Turning, Roderich's eyes widened to see a faint flush creeping across Vash's cheeks despite his angrily clenched fists. Confused at the reaction, Roderich ordered three cappuccinos from a passing employee who ran off to get them.

Roderich and Vash sat down face to face around one of the many small tables in the room, while Gilbert walked around with his cup of coffee, slurping loudly as he examining the different weapons on display.

"So, to business." said Roderich, stirring his coffee. "What is it that you wished to discuss with me?"

Vash looked grim. "I did as you said. There was another message. It was coded—"

"Then send it to Elizabet—"

"Let me finish will you!" Vash exploded, his fingers latched onto the collar of Roderich's shirt before he managed to calm himself again. "There was nothing to decode, the message was obvious. It said 'The transaction had been finalized. The shipment with be delivered by the end of July.' But the only reason it's taking that long is all the secrecy of locations and times involved in this whole thing."

"July… That gives us some time. But Gott, only six months before a possible attack which could destroy the whole world!" Roderich exclaimed.

"It seems as though you were right about them pre-ordering the parts." said Vash. "How'd you know that they'd be asking Im Yong Soo?"

Roderich shrugged. "Natalya, Braginski's not so well-known sister. She knows that Yong Soo has a soft spot for her. I thought that she might try to use him."

"Not bad." Vash admitted.

Roderich didn't look as pleased. "But we know nothing else… Which ship it'll be on or where it is to be received…"

"I did the best I could Roderich! You have no idea how dangerous it was to even get you this much! " snapped Vash, slamming his arm on the small table between them.

"I was not blaming you Vash." Roderich said gently, placing his hand on Vash's forearm. "I apologize if you thought so. I do know how difficult it must have been, my friend… the lengths you had to breach in order to extract this invaluable information. " he gave Vash a surreptitious smile. "It was very brave of you. I don't think I could ever have done it."

From the corner of his eyes, Roderich saw Gilbert pause while handling a grenade launcher as he watched their exchange attentively. He removed his fingers from Vash's arm and curled them around the handle of his cup. Roderich sipped on his cappuccino, not noticing the line of white foam it left on his upper lip. "I was just thinking about what the others will make of this development…"

Vash huffed out a short breath, staring at Roderich with an odd look on his face. Then he slid a tissue paper out of the box on the table and tugged Roderich forward by his tie, wiping the foam off his lips. "That's not very dignified…" he murmured, almost irritably. "You're so careless… How do you even survive without someone watching over you 24/7?"

Roderich didn't say a word and he let Vash clean him up. Apparently he had been forgiven. Vash's brown were furrowed, but his hands and words were tender, just like when they had been younger. Could it be that Vash didn't despise him after all?

"Lili's been wanting to see you." Vash was saying, his eyes were unguarded as they looked into Roderich's. "Maybe you could come have lunch, or we could go have dinner some time… Not that I care! I'm not the one inviting you, let's be clear about that! Just that Lili was asking about you..."

But Roderich felt a cheerful smile form on his face. "I would like that very much, Vash."

Clank! Click-click!

The moment they were having was suddenly broken when Gilbert loudly cocked a rifle beside where they were sitting. His face was set in a scowl as he watched them. "If that's all, shouldn't we go and give the others this invaluable information, Little Master? They should know about this as soon as possible, ja?"

"Yes, you should go!" said Vash. He abruptly let go of Roderich's tie and stood up, crumpling the tissue paper in a fist. "I have important things to get back to."

Roderich got to his feet as well. "Alright." he said, still smiling slightly. "Take care, Vash. Oh, and by the way, Francis wanted me to tell you—"

Vash's face contorted and he pointed a finger at Roderich, enraged. "Don't talk to me about that psycho French rapist. I'll shoot him where it hurts if he comes close to Lili again." He turned around. "And you stay away from him too, Roderich!" Vash added almost as an afterthought.

The doors to the armory slammed shut behind him.

There was a low whistle and Roderich felt Gilbert approach close behind him. "That guy has some major anger issues, Priss. I can see why you two'd have never worked out." Gilbert whispered in his ear.

Roderich shivered from the proximity before turning to slap Gilbert's arm, his cheeks reddening. "You arschloch! It's nothing like that!"

As they walked out of the armory, Gilbert turned to him again. "Hey Priss, I was wondering if you'd be fine with rough, angry sex…" his smile lecherous. "Cause that's probably what Zwingli has in mind!"

"Gilbert!" Roderich could feel his face boiling in embarrassment.

"What? I'm just saying." Gilbert chuckled, his cheeks were slightly pink. "No wonder everybody calls him your boyfriend…"

Roderich turned to him then, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

Gilbert gave him a distinctly disbelieving look. "C'mon. You really can't tell?"

"Tell what?"

Gilbert shook his head. "Never mind... Scheiße! I forgot to tell Zwingli to stop fucking with my guns! Hey, why don't you head back to the main room, Little Master?" he jerked his head to the direction they had just come from. "I'll just go have a word with him."

Roderich felt unsure for some reason. It didn't seem like a good idea to leave a beast like Gilbert alone with a hot-head like Vash… Especially when they had seemed not to like each other. "Are you certain? I could go with—"

Gilbert waved a hand languidly. "I don't need you babysitting me, Roddy."

Roderich's lips formed a thin line. "Well then, let me make it clear that you shall be paying for any damages, if something should go wrong." But what if they hurt each other? Roderich bit his lip, he couldn't help but feel worried.

Gilbert chuckled softly, then smirked. "Okay then... See ya later, Priss! Don't hurt yourself too much with your own idiotness while awesome me is away!" He then gave a surprisingly gentle punch to Roderich's arm before swiveling around on the heels of his feet and walking off, ruffling his white hair.

Roderich stayed where he was, frozen. The gesture had almost seemed friendly... And very un-Gilbertish. Roderich heart thudded is his chest as he watched the other man walk away.

---

As they walked back towards the main room from the armory, Gilbert wondered if Roderich really didn't know about Vash's not-discrete-but-very-obvious crush on him. If the way Zwingli kept gritting his teeth at Gilbert's blatant innuendos weren't any clues, then Gilbert didn't know what was.

"It's nothing like that!" Roderich had said…

He had called Zwingli 'friend'. He had smiled for him…. But the blond bastard obviously had less innocent feelings, and for someone who spent all his time deciphering clues, Roderich was strangely oblivious.

Gilbert could see very well why Vash liked Roderich. He had this weird sort of appeal, which he didn't even seem to notice that he had. It was probably because Roderich looked so girly, with his long lashes and thin fingers and perfect nails. Gilbert couldn't find any other explanation for why his breath had suddenly sped up at seeing Roderich's disheveled hair, those indigo eyes, clear and unobstructed by those glasses, pale wet skin where the silk vest had hitched up… Crap, he was really getting obsessed.

But Gilbert's mindless teasing and play fighting didn't explain why the sight of Roderich's hand on that blond shit's arm had caused that pang in his chest... or why he had felt an animalistic urge to rip Zwingli's head off when he had pulled Roderich across the table to wipe coffee cream off his lips. He guessed that it was because Gilbert considered Roderich as his friend…no! Well… his frenemy of sorts, and wanted to protect him. He couldn't have his co-Team Leader distracted by trivial shit during a mission.

And… He still didn't get why Roderich didn't seem to mind that everyone called Vash his boyfriend. The 'Roderich' Gilbert thought he knew would have exploded in anger at the mere implication, but he was being surprisingly calm about the whole thing-

"Unless…", Gilbert turned to Roderich, realizing that they had been silent for far too long. "Hey Priss, I wonder if you'd be fine with rough, angry sex… Cause that's probably what Zwingli has in mind!"

The effect was instantaneous. Gilbert could practically see the red rising up Roderich's cheeks as he determinedly kept his gaze forward. The man looked adorable.

"Gilbert!" he berated.

"What? I'm just saying." Gilbert said, laughing. He was suddenly picturing Roderich with his shirt undone, halfway down his arms, his body flushing as Zwingli slammed into him with force. What the fuck? He thought, shaking his head to dispel the image that brought a disgusting lurch in the pit of his stomach.

Scheiße, Antonio's mind tricks had ruined him… The images in his head were getting worse day by day. What would Roderich do if he knew that Gilbert was imagining him half-naked inside his head? Gilbert's felt himself flush. He'd probably threaten his five meters again… maybe even more than threaten. But he seemed so fine with Zwingli practically feeling him up…

"No wonder everybody calls him your boyfriend…" he muttered.

"What do you mean by that?" Roderich's head was innocently tilted to one side and he stared at Gilbert, genuinely confused.

"C'mon. You really can't tell?", asked Gilbert, incredulous.

Roderich's brows furrowed as they approached the main room. "Tell what?"

Gilbert opened his mouth to explain but then shook his head. "Never mind…"

That trigger-happy bastard—"Scheiße! I forgot to tell Zwingli to stop fucking with my guns!"

They stopped. Roderich turned to him questioningly. "Hey, why don't you head back to the main room, Little Master?" Gilbert gestured towards the other end of the corridor where they had just come from. "I'll just go have a word with him."

Roderich's features twisted into a frown. "Are you certain? I could go with—"

Gilbert waved a hand to shut him up. "I don't need you babysitting me, Roddy."

Roderich's lips thinned and his violet orbs narrowed at him warningly. "Well then, let me make it clear that you shall be paying for any damages, if something should go wrong."

Gilbert chortled. What did Roderich think would happen between him and Zwingli? Was he worried about his boyfriend getting hurt? Gilbert ignored a strange twinge he felt at that thought, and smirked at Roderich, who was chewing his lip. "Okay then... See ya later, Priss! Don't hurt yourself too much with your own idiotness while awesome me is away!"

Roderich simply stared at him with his large violet eyes. Gilbert felt something tug at him at how small and fragile Roderich was looking right then. He felt his hand raise itself before he could stop it. So he curled it into a fist and bushed his knuckles softly against Roderich's arm, feeling stupid. He then swiftly turned around started walking away, running his fingers though his hair. Man, why the heck was his heart pounding like that?

.

.

"Zwingli!" Gilbert yelled as ran towards the small blob of yellow and green he could see a bit way off. "Hey, Zwingli, wait up!"

The man stopped and turned around at that with a majorly annoyed expression on his face. He stood with his arms crossed until Gilbert slid into a halt in front of him and doubled over, gasping for breath. "What?"

"Why, aren't you… just a ray… of sunshine…" Gilbert said between sharp intakes of air.

Zwingli's jaw moved as he ground his teeth. "I hope you have something to say… or I'm leaving."

Gilbert straightened up to his full height and towered over the blond. "Oh, I have something to say all right. Which lunatic gave you the right to change to change the Winchesters on my machine guns?"

"Winchesters…" Zwingli frowned. "You mean the miniature machine guns. I replaced them with a lighter substitute which allows you to shoot around a 100 more rounds."

"Well, what good will a 100 more do if I miss the other 500 hundred shots?" Gilbert asked angrily.

"It's not my problem!" Zwingli shouted back. "Why should I care that you can't even handle a few changes to your gun!"

"You should because you're an idiot!" retorted Gilbert. "With the Remingtons you're shortening the range of my guns! And where we're going for this mission, I'll need to shoot at distance, not in their faces!"

Zwingli backed down slightly at that. "That is true." If eyes could kill, then Gilbert would already be inside a coffin, a couple kilometers underground. "You're Team Knight's Cross's Leader right? The one Roderich was replacing?"

"Ja." said Gilbert, wondering why Zwingli wanted to know.

"Is he going with you guys as the ground team?" asked the blond.

"Ja… I think so." replied Gilbert.

"Damn!" The man cursed loudly. He punched a fist into the palm of his other hand, his eyes glowering at his feet.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What did the floor ever do to you, man?"

The man's eyes were pure rage when they looked up at Gilbert. "He shouldn't be doing this one… It's dangerous. He should stay here!"

"Well, tough luck!" said Gilbert. "That choice is up to Roddy, and I'm pretty sure that he's already decided."

"You don't understand!" Zwingli shook his head. "Ivan and Natalya are both crazy! And with what's involved… there's no point trying to stop them. Might as well try staying out of their way!"

Gilbert felt his blood boil at that. His hand took hold of Zwingli's collar, and wrenched it roughly. "Hey, blondie! I lived with the Braginski's for a while! It wasn't all nice treatment and spas, believe me… They even gave me some parting gifts so that I don't forget! I don't particularly wanna cross paths with them again…" Well, he did. But for Zwingli's purposes now… "But this is another mission, and if we don't stop them then nobody will! So don't be so fucking insulting and try being grateful that we're putting ourselves between the enemy and the rest of the world!"

Zwingli yanked Gilbert's hand away from him with more force than he looked like he had. A few bottle-green buttons flew off his shirt in the process. "You think I give a shit about that?" he asked Gilbert, his voice shaking with wrath. "I don't fucking care, okay! Coming between him and a blade is nothing new for me! I'd do it again if I could! If something happens to him… I don't know what I'll— what I'll tell Lili… my adopted sister..."

Zwingli's shoulders drooped slightly and he blinked rapidly. Gilbert felt an unknown emotion cross him and grit his teeth, looking away. "Does Roddy know?"

"Know what?" Zwingli snapped.

Gibert's eyes flitted back, gauging Zwingli's reaction closely. "That you're fucking over the moon for him?"

Zwingli lost his cool completely. He spluttered, trying to say something, but the words came out jumbled. Finally, he settled on glaring over Gilbert's shoulder. "It's nothing like that…"

Gilbert let out a mirthless laugh. "Now that's funny! You see, that's exactly what Roddy said about you two as well."

"It really is nothing!" Zwingli insisted. "Nothing can ever happen! There too much fucking past wedged between us! He doesn't even know anything... He thinks that I hate him. And I'm never planning on telling him. "

"In that case…" Gilbert's voice was low, dangerous. "You should stop trying and learn to keep your hands off him, shouldn't you?"

There was a blur and a thwack as Zwingli's fist came into contact with Gilbert's jaw. Gilbert grinned as he felt a stinging sensation and the taste of iron fill his mouth. He spat out blood and returned with an elbow strike and an uppercut. Zwingli's stumbled, but kept on his feet before countering with a jab, which Gilbert dodged, but the blond followed with a counterpunch, which hit it's mark, right where Zwingli had punched him the first time. Gilbert made a grab for the man's head but only managed to rake his nails across the Zwingli's face. Zwingli let out a pained shout and pulled his fist back for another punch. But before either of them could move another muscle, there was a shout of "Dudes, stop!" and Gilbert felt himself being restrained in a cop hold. Zwingli put his hand over his mouth and his cheek was bleeding where Gilbert's nails had scratched it. They were both breathing like they had just run a marathon.

Gilbert growled, shaking in Alfred's grip. "Hey, c'mon... Let go of me Alfie!" But the American's hold on him was vice-like.

"So that you two can kill each other? Nuh-uh, I don't think so." said the boisterous voice behind him.

Zwingli was staring at him, his poison-like eyes seemed to be boring pikes into Gilbert. But his voice cracked when he spoke. "I get it… I'll send you your bullets. Make sure you protect him out there… With your life if you have to." The way Zwingli said it, it seemed as though he had no doubt that Gilbert would do what he was saying. The blond man turned and began to walk slowly towards where he had been going before Gilbert had found him. Suddenly, he halted. "If you tell him anything about this… I'll fucking kill you." There was a chilling glint in his eyes which Gilbert glimpsed for a few seconds, before Zwingli turned the corner and disappeared from sight.

Alfred loosened his grip and Gilbert pulled himself away. "Let's go, dude." Alfred said, despite his curious gaze. "You wanna go to the main room or the infirmary?"

Gilbert cackled, feeling elated. The adrenalin was still flowing through his system. "Why would I hide my battle scars?" he asked, following Alfred through the hallway.

.

.

"You're late Gilbe—bruder! What happened?" Ludwig concerned voice erupted the moment Gilbert entered. There were several gasps and Gilbert turned to the polished glass to check his reflection. His face was a mess. Blood from his split lip and mouth had dried somewhat on his chin and jaw but most of the crimson looked relatively fresh. There were red splatters all over the top of his shirt and sleeve where he had wiped his mouth. An angry purple mark forming on his left jaw, which was now slightly swollen.

There was a clatter as a chair fell backwards. Roderich had stood up. "I knew it." he muttered, fuming. "I knew that I should not have left you alone with Vash. What did you do to provoke him Gilbert?"

Gilbert wanted to hit something again. The adrenalin had left his bloodstream by now and the numbing pain was settling in. He was in no mood for shitty accusations. Gilbert slammed his hand hard on the table in front of him. His palm stung but he felt a slight pleasure when Roderich jumped at the noise. "I told him to go shove a gun up his ass, happy?"

"I hate you…" Roderich's nose scrunched up. He looked like he was about to cry, but his voice remained relatively calm. "I hate you so much-"

"So what else is new?" said Gilbert, almost languidly. There was a sudden ache in his chest at Roderich's words, which Gilbert was sure had nothing to do with the throbbing in his face. He payed it no heed and sat down between Kiku and Francis.

Roderich turned to Alfred who had come in with him. "Is Vash hurt? How is he-"

Gilbert felt a jolt of anger race through him. "Man, calm down will ya Priss?" he couldn't help the volume of his voice. He ignored Francis's restraining hand on his shoulder and Roderich's large eyes and slightly trembling lips. "You're fucking boyfriend's fine, I only roughed him up a little! He'll still be able to do you tonig-"

"Enough!" Ludwig wasn't looking at either of them but glaring at the table. "You disappoint me— both of you!" he added when Roderich opened his mouth. "We have gathered for an important meeting now, which is vital to this mission. I am sure that your problems are of slightly lesser importance. If it is not too much to ask, perhaps you are willing to discuss this afterwards?"

Roderich looked down ashamed, but Gilbert simply gnashed his teeth together.

"Alright then." said Ludwig in a softer tone. "Who's starting with the reports?"

Roderich cleared his throat, his eyes on his lap. All eyes turned to him. "It has c-come to l-light that… that…" Roderich took a deep breath and opened his mouth again, but didn't look like he'd be able to continue. Gilbert furrowed his eyebrows, had his shouting affected the brunette that much? They were always going at each other throats... but then again, none of their arguments had been quite so… personal. Gilbert suddenly felt guilty for reducing the normally composed brunette to this state. He cleared his own throat, keeping his eyes on Roderich. "Ja, so... They're ordering the bomb parts from Im Yong Soo. They'll be Braginski's in six months. But we dunno how they're gonna transport them or where they're being mailed to." Roderich didn't look up, but there were mutters and exclamations at Gilbert's words.

"What?!"

"The fuck, dude? No way…"

"That is disturbing…"

"Ai ya…"

"Quiet everyone!" Ludwig barked, calling for silence. "If that's true, there we are helpless until we receive more information. We will have to rely on Elizabeta's spies now. Have we learnt anything else?"

Francis nodded. "My team has information that three experts have gone missing under suspicious cirsumstances from around the Baltic region." He clicked on his electronic tablet and the faces of three people appeared enlarged on the table's glass surface. "Eduard von Bock, the world-renowned software technology whiz who graduated as an ace-student from Estonia's best university and was forcibly taken away three days ago. Raivis Galante, a 15 year old boy who is Latvia's best chemical mastermind disappeared last month. Tolys Laurinaitis, a famous Lithuanian tactician, more commonly known as 'Toris' by his friends, who was taken away last week."

"So we're guessing that Braginski has them right now?" asked Arthur. "God bless their souls."

Alfred attached his tablet to the table and added a few pictures of several different locations onto its glass screen. "My team didn't know for sure that Im Yong Soo would be involved with this… but we checked him out all the same." he said. "These routes y'all can see, show that the parts can be transported by land... Which will be much faster than sending them by ship."

"Can't we just post our teams there and block these routes?" asked Yao.

"Negative." answered Alfred. "There's too much ground to cover. Yong Soo has several factories, and we have no idea which one they're making the parts in."

"Never mind that." said Elizabeta. "These locations are all situated along the borders of two countries. I don't think that the governments will be too keen on allowing foreign hostile forces to linger at their borders, unless I tell them our real reason for being there… which I can't."

"Why not?" asked Alfred, looking tortured. "We're the good guys!"

Elizabeta gave him a sad smile. "But they don't know that, Alfred. We can't give them a good excuse for stationing our forces there without causing panic and mass hysteria. This mission will have to be carried out undercover."

Ludwig gave Roderich a glance, but the brunette still had his eyes lowered. Then he turned to Gilbert. "Your team will need to head out soon. Give me a final list of all the equipment you will need and my team will provide them." His blue eyes turned to Yao and Kiku. "I'm certain you two will help with the armament coordination?"

"Of course, Ludwig-san." replied Kiku as Yao nodded.

Arthur raised a finger. "We may have another few … umm, slight problems. I did say that my team could handle any other problems coming our way… but this will be difficult." he sighed. "Prince Heracles Karpusi's billion dollar worth Athos Cross has been stolen, and we have uncovered a plot to assassinate the Indian Prince and his Royal guests from all over the world on his 18th birthday, which is being held at the royal palace in the Indian capital. I don't have enough agents to handle all this, any they are pretty dangerous cases which need immediate attention."

Ludwig sighed. "If we weren't in such a critical mess, these missions would have both held top priority... But Arthur, my hands are full."

"Yo, I can help!" Alfred spoke up. "You dudes seem to have this covered, and my team has no more research to do, right?"

Arthur looked genuinely relieved. "Thank you, Alfred."

"No prob, Artie! It's cause I'm the Her—"

"…Shut. Up."

As everyone started getting up, Gilbert finally took his eyes of Roderich, who still hadn't moved a muscle. The pain in his jaw was getting worse, he wondered whether it had been cracked or not. Swallowing his pride, Gilbert thought that it would actually be a good idea to give Nurse Xiao Mei a visit at the Infirmary.

Gilbert touched his cheek gingerly… it felt like a watermelon. Yep, he'd have to go see her alright.

Feeling even more depressed now, Gilbert wanted to kick himself as he lumbered out of the main room. Gilbert didn't notice the two pairs of eyes that watched him go out the door; Alfred's static blues and Roderich's clear violet ones.

.

.

Gilbert's eyes were wide with disbelief.

"What?" he asked through his teeth, it even hurt to open his mouth too wide now.

He had been knocking at the white doors for about a quarter of an hour before a security guard had walked by.

"I'm sorry. Mei left a couple of minutes ago… you just missed her." The guard was telling Gilbert, grimacing as he looked at the state of Gilbert's face. "I feel for you old pal. You could try the First Aid room." he said, before continuing with his rounds.

What good would that do? The Infirmary had most of the awesomer supplies… X-rays, surgery tables, equipment… Gilbert could go up 15 flights to the First Aid room, but seriously, why bother? He opted on banging his forehead against the Infirmary doors, and slammed his fist beside it on the wall for good measure.

"Mein Gott, Gilbert!" called a voice. Gilbert froze, there was a pitter-patter of rushing feet and Gilbert felt his fist being gently lifted from the wall and cradled in soft hands. "Your knuckles are bleeding now… Why did you do that?

Gilbert didn't reply. What was Roderich doing here? Smooth fingertips guided Gilbert's head away from the doors and towards Roderich, before moving to touch his inflamed jaw. Gilbert leaned into the cool digits for a second, before he came to his senses and jerked away.

"What're you doin' Priss?"

Roderich looked tortured. "I am sorry." He said in a small voice. Gilbert looked up, incredulous. Roderich was twisting his fingers together, staring at them. Why was he apologizing? "Alfred told me that Vash had been the one to start the fight… I truly am sorry. I should not have jumped to conclusions. I thought that you… never mind… I apologize."

"Me too." Gilbert felt the choked words leave his lips. "For what I said… I made you angry-"

"But only because I provoked you. I am the one to blame." Whatever Alfred had said to Roderich, Gilbert owed the American big time. Roderich looked up at Gilbert, his lavender orbs meeting Gilbert's intense red ones… and just like that, Gilbert knew that it was fine between them. Roderich lifted a hand to Gilbert's brow, hissing. "You have got another bruise now. It does not look too good."

Gilbert snorted and replied instinctively. "Awesome me always looks good."

Roderich's lips twitched as he removed his hand. "Do you want me to drive you to your brother's? He can look after—"

"Luddy won't let me into the house tonight." Gilbert said, a small grin on his face at Roderich's incomprehension. "Trust me, it ain't the first time this has happened. Ludwig calls it 'atonement' for not thinking before I act. It's kinda like a punishment... He's into BDSM I guess, so he likes that sorta stuff."

Roderich did not look amused. "That is not funny, Gilbert."

Gilbert sighed. "Never said it was. But it's either joking about it or crying like some sissy."

Roderich shook his head. "Do you want to come over to my place? I have a well stocked medicine cabinet, I could—"

"No!" Gilbert couldn't explain the sudden panic he felt at Roderich's offer. "Don't worry about it, Roddy. Francis can take me to his place or something."

"Francis just left with Arthur in his Bugatti." countered Roderich.

"Well, then. I'll walk over to Tony's or… something." Gilbert tried, gesticulating randomly.

"I'm not going to just stand here and watch as you bleed to death." said Roderich, crossing his arms.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "C'mon Roddy, it's not that bad… You could sit down and watch."

Roderich raised a hand and placed it on Gilbert's triceps. "Gilbert, it's been a long day… Just let me help you." he said, sounding exhausted.

"Ermm…" Gilbert could think of anything else to say. Do punches to the head destroy people's brain cells?

There was a tug on his shirt. "Just come with me."

Gilbert's feet started moving on their own accord as Roderich led him towards his stylish Porsche Spyder Concept in the underground parking lot.

"This isn't a good idea, Priss." Gilbert heard himself blurt out. He turned to Roderich, who had raised an eyebrow and was holding the sliver door to the passenger seat open for him. "Aren't you worried that I'll get blood on your seats?"

Roderich's eyes widened a fraction and he gave Gilbert a stern glower. "You really do not think very much of me, do you?"

If only you knew… But Gilbert only shrugged. "I can't say shit now that you've offered to drive me to your place. I guess I'll even have to take back the stuff I said to you in the rainforest… Looks like you can be nice, even if it's like, once in a million years…"

Roderich's eyes widened minutely, and his lips quirked upwards. "Be careful, Gilbert. That almost sounded like a compliment… Now get in, or do you want me to force you in?"

Gilbert snorted. "I'd like to see you try."

"Just shut up and get in the car, Gilbert." Roderich sounded irritated.

Gilbert pouted. "Fine… It's your car not mine." he said petulantly, climbing into the vehicle.

.

.

It felt strange, walking up the steps to Roderich's mansion in the dark. Gilbert leant against the thick, walnut wood doors as he watched Roderich fumbling with a ring of gigantic keys, one of which presumable opened the large doors to his manor. It was night all around them. Roderich looked like he was struggling to hold up the heavy looking keys.

"Do you need help, Priss?" Gilbert ventured.

"What? No, no… I apologize for making you wait..." Roderich muttered.

"Do all your servants leave during the night?" Gilbert asked, wondering why Roderich wasn't calling for his butler or the girl who had served them dinner last time. He looked around at the dark windows of the mansion. "That's gotta be lonely."

"You know… after Antonio left, I went to live with your brother for a while." Roderich said with a brief smile. "The silence in the manor was just…" he trailed off.

"What about now?" Gilbert asked, curious.

"Now?"

"Ja, now. Don't you get lonely now that Liz's gone?"

Roderich shrugged. "Not as much… My butler and maid live in the east wing. But the west wing is eerily quiet all the time. Perhaps, I am getting used to it… Sometimes I feel as though I do not even exist."

Gilbert's head cricked up at that. He knew that feeling only too well.

Roderich snapped out of his thoughts. "But right now, Mariazella is probably in the study. And I do not want to disturb her or poor Mr. Vienn—"

But Gilbert had already grabbed the black eagle knocker and slammed it hard thrice on the wooden door, ignoring Roderich's annoyed glower. "What?" he said defensively. "You can tell them it was me if you want."

No more than a few seconds later, a young girl with jet black hair opened the door. "Welcome back, Mr. Edelstein. It's late, so I was worried…" she trailed off at the sight of Gilbert and his face.

Roderich sighed tiredly and handed her the heavy keys. "Good evening, Maria. Please prepare some hot water and get some antibiotics. I also need you to set out the antiseptic supplies from the medicine cabinet in the sitting room."

"Of course." the girl said, and rushed off.

Roderich entered the foyer and turned on the spot to face Gilbert. "Well, come on in."

They wandered around the large halls for a while. Gilbert was sure that Roderich was lost for a moment. They finally reached the sitting room after ten minutes of walking around. Gilbert found it sort of cute… the way the stuffy Austrian got lost in his own home.

"How do you even survive without someone watching over you 24/7?""

Zwingli's words echoed in his head as he watched Roderich, and on this point, Gilbert had to agree with the other man.

The furniture in the sitting room looked French, 18th Century-ish. There were elaborate curtains, Persian carpets and priceless artifacts decorating all corners of the room. Roderich led Gilbert to a wide, lilac canapé and they sank into its soft texture. A bowl of steaming water was already sitting on cherry wood table in front of them, along with towels, a glass of water and what Gilbert presumed to be antibiotic medication.

Roderich rubbed his hands with anti-bacterial hand gel and made Gilbert clean his uninjured hand before placing two small capsules of it. "The yellow one is for pain and the white one is an antibiotic. Trust me, you do not want to get these cuts infected when the mission is so near." Gilbert set the pills on his tongue, wincing at the bitter taste. Roderich then handed him the glass of water, which he guzzled down along with the pills.

The brunette then grabbed a fluffy, white towel from the table and wet its edge in the hot water. He took Gilbert hand in his and dabbed at his bloody knuckles with the wet cloth. The white towel turned red on touch and his wound stung. Gilbert pulled his hand away from Roderich's and snatched the towel in his good hand. "I can do it myself." he muttered, gritting his teeth and he wiped the blood away. His face was feeling very hot.

Roderich nodded and merely took another towel and soaked it in the bowl. This time, he waited for Gilbert to finish cleaning the wounds on his hand before taking hold of Gilbert gently by his undamaged jaw and pulling his face forward. "Wait, Roddy, I can—"

"Yes, I can see that you have an invisible mirror floating in front of you face, Gilbert." said Roderich, rolling his eyes. With an edge of the towel, the Austrian began to wipe at the dried blood on Gilbert's jaw and chin. "Alfred told me that it had sounded like your fight with Vash concerned me somehow. Do you want to explain what it was about?"

Scratch that thought. Gibert thought mutinously. He didn't owe Alfred horseshit! "Erm… it was, about nothing."

Roderich pursed his lips. Gilbert set his eyes on an expensive looking painting over Roderich's head, but he didn't actually see it. Why had he fought Zwingli? He didn't even know what they had been fighting for… Had Vash thought that they had been fighting over Roderich?

"I get it." Zwingli had said. What had he meant by that? Gilbert looked down to find Roderich violet eyes, framed by long lashes, wide open behind his thin glasses, which were misting from Gilbert's breath. When Gilbert finally realized that Roderich's face was only millimeters away from his, Roderich had pulled back to take off his fogged glasses, before blinking at Gilbert.

"Oh, sorry. Does it hurt too much? You look pained." he asked. Gilbert shook his head fervently in response. "Alright then, come back… I am almost done."

This time, it was worse. Gilbert jumped when he felt Roderich press the hot towel lightly on his bottom lip. "Sorry! Sorry… Just hold still. This will not hurt much longer…" Roderich put a comforting hand on Gilbert's knee. Gilbert nearly groaned at the contact as the towel moved to a dab at a spot on his jaw. Couldn't Roderich see that the pain was not the problem? The problem was that if Gilbert moved an inch forwards, his lips would be touching Roderich's cheeks…

There was a bang and the doors to the sitting room opened. Gilbert nearly sighed out in relief when Roderich moved away again to look at Mariazella, who was standing at the entrance with her hazel eyes wide, a tray full of bandages and ointments in her hand. Gilbert couldn't understand why she stood frozen at the doorway looking like she had stumbled onto an exorcism. Apparently, Roderich didn't either. "What's wrong, Maria? Come in."

The girl padded forward and set down the tray in front of them. "Would Mr. Edelstein and Mr. Beilschmidt like anything else?" she asked, her voice breathless.

"Ja, get me some good quality German bee—"

"Two hot cocoas, please." interjected Roderich with a smile at the girl. Gilbert pouted, but the brunette ignored him. "That will be all, Maria."

As the girl hurriedly left the room, Roderich turned to the medicine tray and got hold of two ice patches. Peeling off the wrappers, he stuck the smaller one on Gilbert's brow, and was about the place the larger on his jaw when he stopped suddenly.

"Gilbert." Roderich whispered. "Are you breathing?"

Wasn't he? Gilbert took in a lungful of air and realized that he had, in fact, momentarily stopped breathing.

"Stop worrying." said Roderich, patting his knee soothingly. "This might hurt while I am sticking it on, but it will reduce the swelling."

Gilbert nodded and let Roderich's cool fingers gently press the pain relief patch onto his cheek. The brunette then took the roll of bandages and began to unravel it for Gilbert's hand. When the brunette took hold of his hand this time, Gilbert simply watched him. He had never been cared for like this before. Ever. In his whole life. It felt rather gratifying, and even if Roderich was doing it out of obligation, or pity, or some other stupid reason… Gilbert was feeling happy. And Roderich had never looked more beautiful as he did now, under the golden glare of the chandelier above them, which put his sharp features into stunning relief.

Gilbert moved his hand as necessary to help Roderich roll the bandage around it in a neat and tight circle, before he placed it onto his lap to cut off the extra cloth and bind the ends together. Gilbert felt warmth rise up his neck when realized exactly where his hand was resting. He tried to move the appendage away from its position on Roderich's thighs, but the man slapped his wrist smartly and resumed tying the small knot at the back of his hand. Gilbert's bare fingers were resting against Roderich's lean inner thigh, and he cursed his brain when the image of a very seductive, un-Roderich-like Roderich took over his imagination. Scheiße…

There was a knock on the door. Roderich didn't look up from his task as he asked Mariazella to enter. The girl came in carrying another tray which contained two mugs of cocoa, her eyes nearly popping out when she saw them this time. Gilbert flushed and shook his head at her to make her understand that the situation was not as it seemed, when Roderich finally looked up. "Thank you, Maria. That will be all for the night. You may go to bed."

The girl gave him a small bow and winked inconspicuously at Gilbert before rushing out of the room, closing the large door behind her, and Gilbert didn't get the chance to explain that it was definitely not what she was obviously thinking!

"Here." Roderich seemed utterly ignorant of their exchange and was holding up the mug which had a straw in it towards Gilbert. He took it, slurping down some of the warm liquid. The cocoa tasted nice. Gilbert couldn't remember the last time he had drunk hot chocolate… Maybe around the time he had been ten years old, when he had still been living with his grandfather?

The moment he finished drinking, Roderich grabbed a tube of ointment and squirted some of the transparent gel out onto his index finger. Before Gilbert realized what the brunette was doing, Roderich's finger was slowly tracing the medicine over the cut on his lower lip. Gilbert's face felt like it had burst into flames and he grabbed Roderich's wrist, trying to move it away from his face, but Roderich tsked and continued to smooth his finger over Gilbert's plump lip, concentration solely on the injury. "Alright, try not to lick it…"

My lips aren't what I wanna lick…

"… tastes horrible and you must to let the medicine sink in for the cut to heal."

The brunette regarded him with a critical eye and seemed satisfied with his handiwork. With his free hand, he took his mug of chocolate and swallowed a gulp… and just like that morning, it left a line of chocolatey foam over his mouth. "You can let go now, Gilbert. I have finished treating you." he said.

But Gilbert didn't relinquish his grasp on the man's wrist. His breathing was coming fast and his mind was in a haze, with several images of Roderich in very debauched states floating around lazily in his clouded imagination. On impulse, he jerked his hand backwards so that Roderich's face came dangerously close to his own. Then, with the thumb of his bandaged hand, he slowly wiped the brownish foam off Roderich's upper lip before putting the finger into his own mouth. It tasted of sweet chocolate and the bitter medicine on his lip. "Tell me something, Little Master… do you do that on purpose just to stir people up or something?" Gilbert asked the brunette with a wry smirk.

Roderich blinked rapidly. His hand jumped to his mouth and he abruptly blushed a brilliant red. Gilbert stared. So now he was embarrassed? How could the man have kept such a straight face during this whole, veritable ordeal for Gilbert, and when it's Gilbert's turn to have some fun, he suddenly does that? How unfair…

Roderich was spluttering, his face very pink. "I – you— you dummkopf ! You… wiped off the medicine I put on your cut!" he whispered, his voice muffled by his hand.

Gilbert let go of the brunette's wrist and chuckled. "It'll heal by itself, Roddy."

The brunette was looking at anywhere but Gilbert now. He removed his hand, bit his lip, then thrust the back of his hand over his mouth again, rubbing it softly. Gilbert noticed that the action wasn't one of disgust, but simply… of mortification. The albino felt a flutter of something in his stomach and suddenly cleared his throat, feeling rather uncomfortable himself. How had it come to this? From hostile animosity, to grudging tolerance, to… what could their relationship be called now? There was blatant attraction from Gilbert part, and on Roderich's side… could it possibly be-

"Ah, so Roddy! I wanna thank you for this. It was, almost un-prissy of you! So… thanks for bringing me here."

Roderich finally dropped his hand and fixed his eyes on Gilbert's shirt. "It was the least… I could do." he muttered.

"Ja, well. But I was wondering, could you maybe drive me… I dunno, to Francis's?" Roderich looked up at him. "I'd go myself, but since your ginormous mansion is in the middle of nowhere—"

"Stay." said Roderich suddenly.

"-but I'll die walking... What?"

Roderich was still flushed. "You could stay here if you like. Just for the night. I have spare rooms." he said in a rushed manner.

Gilbert frowned. "You sure? I could—"

"Could what?" snapped Roderich. "Walk around town looking like you just murdered some innocent, unsuspecting family?"

Gilbert grinned. "Tetchy, tetchy…"

"Shut up!" said Roderich, standing up. "Just give me your shirt so that I can put in it the washing machine. It will be dry by tomorrow… hopefully the stains will have disappeared as well."

"You know, Priss." said Gilbert, feeling rather bold for some reason. "If you wanted to get me out of my shirt… you could have just asked."

To Gilbert's total surprise, a faint splash of pink scattered itself over Roderich's pretty face again. "You are insufferable…" he said, turning towards another pair or doors on the left-hand side of the room. "Your rooms are on the second floor, third door to the right. I am sure that you can navigate by yourself—"

"Ja, and much better than you can..." Roderich turned back at the comment, a cantankerous expression on his face, his hands curled into fists by his sides. "C'mon, Little Master. Did you really think that I wouldn't notice that we got lost a while ago?"

"Goodnight, Gilbert!" called the cross voice as Roderich slammed the doors shut behind him.

Gilbert cackled and took off his blood-splattered shirt, hanging it over the side of the canapé. Then he reclined back into the soft fabric and closed his eyes.

---

Gilbert was battling an army. Screams, shouts and the clanking of steel sounded all around him. His white stallion reared and neighed as he wrenched his razor-sharp sword out of another body. Turning the horse around, Gilbert galloped across the red-stained ground towards where the fighting was thickest, his red cape billowing out behind him.

"Gilbert!" called a man who looked uncannily like Fritz, but older. His locks were matted with blood and his sword was gleaming scarlet as he kicked his chestnut mount into motion beside Gilbert's.

"This so called army that Roddy has put together would make my grandmother laugh like this: 'Ha-ha-ha!'" Gilbert cackled madly.

Fritz looked around at the carnage around them with wide eyes. "We are winning. But the whore Queen's army is big, so we should wait for the Bavarian and French before invading further."

"We aren't invading, Frederick!" Gilbert growled. "We're taking back what's rightfully ours!" There was a flash of steel and Gilbert saw a black and white steed whinny as its master whirled it around with expertise. And yards across from each other, two pairs of eyes clashed. Purple amethyst orbs burned with rage as they bored into Gilbert's amused, red beryl ones.

"Should we not at least wait for Saxony?" Frederick was asking. But Gilbert had already thrust the reins of his horse forwards. From the other side of the field, Roderich was charging towards him as well.

"Clustering is for the weak... Like that stupid aristocrat!" Gilbert called as his horse whickered into a dash, unable to wipe the grin off his face. There was a possessive edge to his voice now. "I'm looking forward to hearing that boy beg for his life..."

They met with a mad collision of flashing iron. Gilbert forced the other man's blade closer to his blood-splattered jabot with his superior strength in order to imbalance him. It worked. Roderich fell sideways off his horse, but somehow managed to land gracefully on his feet. Gilbert snarled and jumped off his own mount, bringing his sword down on the brunette with a swish. Roderich deflected the hit.

"Young Master." Gilbert called out mockingly, forcing strike after strike onto the brunette. "It must suck balls to have Silesia taken away by force, huh? Just give up already!"

"I will not let you steal this land again!" Roderich snarled, parrying every hit.

"Too late!" Gilbert slid the flat of his blade hard against Roderich's calf, making the brunette fall on his back. "You've already lost! Look at my soldiers and their mean faces… Who do you think taught them that face?"

"Why are you doing this?" Roderich asked as Gilbert loomed over him menacingly, blade still pointed at the hollow of his throat. "You shall get nothing out of this…"

"But I will…" Gilbert paused, digging his sword down onto Roderich's sleeve and straddling him. "…I can't wait to hear you cry like a little girl-man-boy."

All around them, the fighting came to a sudden standstill. Roderich's men were being gathered around, to be taken as prisoners… The soldiers had already surrendered when they had seen that their Chief had been defeated. But Roderich's pride hadn't left him yet… just as Gilbert had known that it wouldn't.

"Gilbert, let me go." Roderich blazed defiantly. "Take your hands off me!"

"I don't think so!" He called to one of his men. "Get me some classical painter to immortalize this! This is how history will remember us… you being under Awesome Me!"

Roderich squeezed his eyes shut. "If your only wish is to humiliate me…"

"Oh no…." Gilbert felt a wild smile light up on his face. "No, Young Master… I just want to dirty you, taint you… corrupt you."

Roderich surprised him by actually letting out a curt laugh at that. "Do you really think I care about you defiling me? You are not the first—ahh!"

Gilbert had shoved his hand roughly up the back of Roderich's clothes, feeling the feverishly hot skin on his back. He was feeling an intense anger for some reason. "Then what should I do, Young Master? If you don't care… then can I take you right here? In front of all my men?!" he yelled.

Roderich's eyes were wide now. "You really… want to do this?"

Gilbert ripped off Roderich's bloody jabot and let his lips latch onto the brunette's sweaty throat. He sucked hard and bit down on the area, making Roderich gasp out. Gilbert gave the man beneath him a feral grin. "If I didn't want this, do you really think that you'd still be alive? I've waited years to have you like this… begging, weeping at my feet… Young Master."

Something changed in Roderich's expression at those words. He wrenched his arm out of Gilbert's grip and pulled the albino down by his ascot. His soft lips brushed against Gilbert's ear. "Then why did you never ask?" the brunette whispered, before giving Gilbert a light nip on the ear.

"…bert!"

"WHAT!" Gilbert jerked up and literally heard his neck crick at the sudden motion. His whole back was hurting at the awkward position he had fallen asleep in on the canapé. Daylight was pouring into the room through the large rectangular windows which were wide open.

"Get up!" said Roderich's voice. The Austrian was standing beside him, already dressed for work, his hands on his hips. "Serves you right for sleeping here. Did I not tell you how to get to your rooms?"

"To hell with your stupid ass directions!" retorted Gilbert, covertly sliding his hand over his crotch as he rubbed the tense muscles on his neck. "I didn't want to spend all night wandering around, completely lost in this place!"

"Oh, are you still going on about that…" huffed Roderich. Gilbert then noticed that Roderich was holding a neatly folded shirt and a pair of trousers in his hands. "Mariazella is bringing us breakfast here. But I am sure that you would like to shower first. I have clean clothes here." he said, holding them out.

Gilbert got to his feet and accepted the clothes, realizing when the cool wind blew in from outside that he didn't have a shirt on. It also wasn't helping that Roderich's eyes were clearly tracing the lines of blemishes across his arms, standing out against the stark white of his complexion. At least his scarred back was facing away from Roderich. "Got something to say, Priss?" Gilbert grumbled.

"Oh no… just." Roderich's looked embarrassed at having been caught staring. "I was merely thinking that getting those would have hurt… quite a lot."

"They did." said Gilbert quietly. There was a moment of silence.

"Why did you not get rid of them? There are ointments which can make scars disappear in less than five seconds—"

"It's 'cause I don't wanna forget." muttered Gilbert, feeling uncomfortable.

Then, a finger was suddenly outlining one of the twisting disfigurations on Gilbert's arm. Goose bumps appeared all over his pale skin and Gilbert had a sneaky suspicion that it wasn't the cold air which had caused them. "Priss!" Gilbert yelped.

"They are nothing to be ashamed of you know." Roderich said, an uncharacteristically understanding look on his face.

Gilbert turned away. "That's easy for you to say… you with your fucking perfect skin…"

Roderich shook his head, removing his hand. "How can you presume know that my complexion is unmarred? I do not think that I have ever removed my clothes in your presence…"

Gilbert flushed. You think? 'Cause you have. Many times actually... repeatedly, inside my fucking head...

"I think I'll go shower now." Gilbert said hurriedly, tugging at the iron cross locket on the silver chain around his neck.

"Right..." Roderich pointed towards the open doors. "The bathroom is inside the spare bedroom. Second floor, third door to the right…" he narrowed his eyes sternly at Gilbert. "I expect to leave the house in 45 minutes so you should be all done by then!"

"Ja, ja…" yawned Gilbert as he walked off.

.

.

The spare room wasn't too hard to find, and the bathroom inside… it was simply too awesome. A cream colored bathtub with water jets along its side lay waiting in the middle of the room. Mirrors covered the full length of each wall except for one corner where there was a stone basin and sink, and on another side where a large glass-enclosed shower was placed. Roderich had said 45 minutes, right? I'll take a quick bath. Gilbert thought. Gott knew that his cramping muscles needed a nice warm one…

Gilbert turned on the water spigots and set them to the right temperature, filling up the bath. Shedding the rest of his clothes, he put them inside the hamper beside the bathroom door. The sensation he felt when he finally lowered his body into the hot bath could only be called one word: bliss. Damn, he would have to somehow pay Roderich back for all this.

Gilbert closed his eyes, trying to remember his dream from last night. This was the third consecutive week now that he had dreamt about Roderich… Every. Single. Night. And every night, the dreams became progressively more violent and dirty. At first, they had only starred fights, angry trysts… then one night, the Roderich in his dreams had latched onto his lips… Gilbert slapped a wet hand to his forehead. He really did not want to admit it, but he was fucking attracted to Roderich… There was just no denying it. And he felt sort of guilty for using the brunette as wank material… But that wasn't his fault! Gilbert couldn't be expected to control his dreams! The Roderich in his dreams was always so invigorating… He would defy Gilbert with a passion, but in the very end he always gave in. Gilbert doubted that the Roderich in real-life would even let him live longer than a few seconds if he ever found out exactly what went on in Gilbert's head.

It's all that damn Antonio's fault… ever since he put that first image in my head!

Antonio… Gilbert didn't really know what to feel about the fact that his best friend had almost been engaged to Roderich. He had felt an alien emotion race through him when he had learnt that Antonio given Roderich the golden fucking ring, the one the brunette kept on his necklace along with Elizabeta's. For the first time in his life, he had wanted to punch his best friend in the face… he had no idea what to make of that.

Gilbert suddenly thought about the unspoken rule between himself, Francis and Antonio: They never hit on each other's lovers… or ex-lovers. That was just off limits. So there was no way-

Gilbert chuckled. What the heck was he even thinking? There was no friggin' chance of anything between his Awesome self and that stupid aristocrat! There was no way that Roderich could possible come on to Gilbert the way he did in his fantasies… or even be that alluring in real life…

But then he remembered what Antonio had said about their 'wild' nights together, and clenched his fists. That was another thing he liked about his wet dreams… they only ever starred the two of them. No interfering ex-lovers, no other people who had absurd crushes on Roderich… only Gilbert. And for whatever strange reason, Roderich usually wanted him back.

Gilbert dropped his injured hand under the water, bandage and all, and grasped his hardening length.

"Gilbert."

So what if the only references he had for self-pleasure these days were his twisted fantasies and Roderich's stupid voice? Gilbert pictured the brunette in the tub with him… Heat pooled to his lower regions. This was so wrong, he knew that… Roderich was the ex-husband of the girl he had loved… the brunette had probably fucked Gilbert's best friend. But recently, the Austrian had become the only person Gilbert could come up with if he wanted relief…

In Gilbert's mind, Roderich's hands were resting on his strong shoulders. The brunette's body was glistening with sweat and his ass brushed against the tip of Gilbert's…

"Fuck…" Gilbert swore, as his breathing quickened. Some corner in Hell reserved with his initials on it was probably under-construction right now. Gilbert's hand began to move, slowly at first, then faster. Roderich was whispering dirty secrets into his ear, his lips ghosting over Gilbert's jaw, his throat, his chest. Roderich's fingers, so deft and lethal with those sharp knives, were so light as they took hold of Gilbert's five meters.

"Let me."

Gilbert pressed his eyes shut, willing his mind to fill in the missing pieces of Roderich, parts of that body Gilbert hadn't seen. He was close… already so close.

His mind presented him with a continuation of his dream from the morning. Roderich was bucking under him, his thigh rising to grind into Gilbert's stiffening member with the most delicious friction! Roderich's lips, after having bitten his ear, were now moving down lower. A pair of luscious lips pressed to Gilbert's cheeks and Roderich's eyes shimmered in plum colored flames when right there, in the middle of the battlefield, his tongue flicked the corner of Gilbert's lips. "Take me."

Gilbert threw his head back and moaned when he felt his climax hit like a storm raging through his body. Biting his lip as he rode out the waves of pleasure, Gilbert wondered why he was doing this to himself… Especially when he knew that he would be seeing the brunette in a few minutes and that he was helpless to do anything about his stupid urges. Roderich had a huge part of Gilbert's mind and body wrapped around his little finger and he didn't even know it…

Desire ran through his veins like wildfire whenever the brunette came close. It had been a while now since he had felt that.

Gilbert raised his hand, wet and dripping from the bathwater and stared at it.

Crap… Roderich was going to kill him for ruining the bandage.

---

"… Roddy? Are these yours?

Roderich turned around to see Gilbert drying his hair with a towel using one hand, while the other held up the pair of black boxers that Roderich had surreptitiously placed under his shirt.

"They are new you idiot! You—wait…" Roderich felt his mouth fall open. "Then what are you wearing underneath your trousers?"

Gilbert eyes glimmered red as his lips tilted into a lewd grin as his hand ghosted over his crotch. Roderich turned pink. Was it just him or was the albino becoming more suggestive lately?

"I thought that you wanted to leave in 45?" Gilbert asked, still smirking.

Roderich looked away from Gilbert, startled at his punctuality. "Yes, well…" he gestured at the table where an assortment of food had been piled up. "We still have 15 minutes so if you want breakfast…"

Gilbert let out a groan at the sight of the dishes and rushed towards them, throwing his towel at Roderich's face.

"I so need breakfast!" Gilbert exclaimed. "Thanks Roddy!"

Gilbert's hand brushed against Roderich's waist as he walked passed him towards the canapé. Roderich blinked. Oh, what was he thinking! It had been an accidental touch, a product of his wishful thinking… right? Pondering on the matter, he walked off to find Mariazella to give her the towel Gilbert had thrown at him. He had no idea where the nearest hamper was.

When he got back to the sitting room, Roderich found Gilbert stuffing his mouth with sausages, hashed lamb, poached eggs and fried potatoes. "You like the same foods your brother does." Roderich said, taking a seat beside Gilbert who nodded happily. Gott... what was wrong with him? This was the oblivious man he had been trying to flirt with yesterday night! He had actually flirted with- Then, Roderich noticed Gilbert's hands. "What happened to your bandages Gilbert?"

Gilbert gave a mighty swallow before speaking. "They got wet in the bath. But the cuts have already scabbed so it'll be fine. That's some good quality medicine you've got, Little Master."

"Yao gave them to me. They are handy during missions." Roderich replied, his eyes on the cut on Gilbert's lower lip.

"What're you looking at?" Gilbert asked. "Is there something on my face?"

Roderich grimaced and fought the urge to blush at being caught staring. "Yes, in fact. You have crumbs all over your mouth!" He pulled out a napkin from his pocket and offered it to Gilbert. The albino took the cloth, but didn't use it.

"A hanky?" he said, a large grin beginning to form on his lips. "You have a handkerchief? It's even got a little 'R' on it! Did you make this yourself, Priss?"

Roderich narrowed his eyes. "Shut up! You own a diary, so I would not be mouthing off if I were you."

Gilbert tsked. "It's a journal, Roddy! Not a diary! There's a difference!" he said, placing a jam covered toast in his mouth.

"Whatever you say." Roderich relented and reclined backwards into the soft canapé. It was way too early in the morning to begin a fight.

---

"7 pm?" Gilbert was saying beside him. "You want us to head off tomorrow night?"

"Your team is already being sent off in trios and pairs as we speak." replied Ludwig. "Things are going to go fast from this point on."

Elizabeta nodded wistfully beside him. "The headquarters will almost be empty soon. Francis is leaving for Canada with his own team where a local intelligence will help him since my Eagles are needed by Kiku to help with the Greek Prince's stolen cross case. He's heading off to India with Alfred and Arthur. They think there are some leads there."

"I'll be going with you guys." said Yao. "We're going to meet up with some Polish guy who's supposed to help us as ground operator there. But I'll be your weapons and communications' expert."

Roderich turned to Yao, frowning. Something didn't seem right with the picture and he soon remembered what the problem was. "Yao, isn't Im Yong Soo a distant cousin of yours?"

Yao paled, obviously not having known that Roderich had scoured all information on each member of the Intelligence. "I assure you. Our relationship was not all peonies and mooncakes. The last time I saw him, he was 5."

"And you were 14." I added, unable to get the bite out of my voice. "He might not hesitate to kill you but if you are the slightest bit reluctant, if you let emotions get in the way-"

"Mr. Edelstein." interrupted Yao, a strange expression on his face. "Allow me to remind you that I am older than any of us present here. I think I have enough experience to know when to be professional."

Roderich bit his lip in anger. A single slip up was all it took… and with so much at cost, Roderich didn't want to think on what the consequences of any mistake would be. "If anything goes wrong—if anyone gets hurt, rest assured that I will do all in my power to put things right. To get them justice."

Roderich saw Yao's eyes widen at his thinly veiled threat, but there was also a relieved expression on his face. "Then we have an agreement?"

Roderich nodded and let the subject drop, for now. He could feel stares on him and suddenly felt suffocated. "I will be in zone C if anyone needs me." he said, before walking away.

After a two-hour long practice on their modified bike simulators, Roderich moved on to the climbing area. The jagged walls in the large room were covered with hand-rests and foot-holds. Roderich was already sweating like crazy. He barely managed to climb a few meters before his foot slipped and he fell with the hard jerk of the harness digging into his ribs. Wincing, he tried lowering himself to the ground but the harness was stuck. Roderich twisted around in the uncomfortable gear, his feet several centimeters away from the ground.

"Are you not going to ask for my help, Roderich?" asked a voice behind him. Roderich turned sharply midair to find his face several inches higher than Ludwig's.

"I do not require you help." Roderich replied with his nose in the air.

Ludwig grimaced. "You are strange. At times, you call out for help even for the most trivial things. It makes me want to gas you, to tell the truth. Then at other times when your pleas for help are acceptable, you refuse to ask."

Roderich found his lips twitching. "Do not be so patronizing, Ludwig."

"Quite the opposite actually." Ludwig said as his arms turned Roderich around midair, his fingers finding the clasps of the harness on his lower back him. "Just as I thought, it's jammed."

Ludwig gave a rough pull on something and Roderich felt himself rise several centimeters further off the floor. He gasped in pain as the steel dug into his ribs and braced one hand on Ludwig's shoulder, glaring at him. "Ludwig! That hurt!"

Ludwig was clearly enjoying this. "I am sorry." he said, barely managing to hide his mocking grin. "You know, the look on your face when you were talking to Yao a while ago… it looked like you wanted a piano, to express your anger towards him."

"Shut up!" retorted Roderich. He winced again as Ludwig gave a harsh jerk on one of the wires holding him up. "I know why you are doing this, you know."

Ludwig looked up and gave a shrug. "Can you blame me? After all that slavery you made me go through, Roderich. "Make me tea!" "Give me cake!""

"I never sounded that childish, you sadist." Roderich glared and dug his fingers hard into Ludwig's shoulders. "I don't know what poor Feliciano sees in you…"

Ludwig actually gave a small chuckle at that. "You sound like Gilbert. By the way, I should thank you for taking care of bruder last night. I hope he didn't pain you too much."

Roderich couldn't explain the sudden flush that rose up his cheeks at those words. "It was no hassle…"

Ludwig gave him a curious look. "You know, Gilbert has really taken to you… I'm serious!" he said, when Roderich scoffed. "Despite what my brother may think, I know him quite well. He likes you Roderich."

A brilliant blush went up Roderich's cheeks. "Well, I guess your brother is tolerable…"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow, his fingers working something loose behind Roderich. "Roderich… did something happen last night? I couldn't help but think…"

Roderich's eyes widened in surprise as they fixed on Ludwig's. "No! Of course not!" Nothing happened! Only that I learnt that I am attracted to your older brother, and possibly even in love with the man who obviously hates my guts… "I-I don't even know that you mean! Why would you even ask something like that?"

Ludwig shook his head amusedly. "I don't know. Both of you have been acting rather strange lately."

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Roderich deadpanned.

"Of course not." And with that, something gave away and the harness supporting Roderich slid back down to the floor, and his grasp on to Ludwig shoulders tightened.

"Thank you." Roderich muttered sullenly, taking his hand off Ludwig's shoulders once his feet finally reached steady ground. But Ludwig put his hand on Roderich's shoulder.

"I might not get to see you leave, and this is a dangerous mission." Ludwig sighed. "I know it's unfair, but I want you to promise me that you'll do everything you can to protect Gilbert. I'm not asking you to give your life for him… just don't let him make the stupid, selfless decisions he usually tends to make."

Roderich looked into Ludwig's worried gaze with a reassuring expression. "I will do everything. I give you my word, Ludwig."

Ludwig smiled weakly and his eyes were slightly teary. "I can't lose him again, Roderich. I was the one who kept asking him to come back… but now I regret it."

Sometimes, Roderich felt that Ludwig needed his support, just as much as he used to rely on Ludwig's. As the blond's head fell onto his shoulder, Roderich remembered the times when Feliciano and Ludwig had comforted him night after night, following his break up with Antonio… with coffee, songs, and comfortable laps to rest on.

Roderich could feel Ludwig's tears wetting his shoulder. "Shush... shush…" His hand went up and down his arms as they circled around Roderich. "Stop it… You have not said goodbye to him yet, have you? How do you think Gilbert will feel if he sees you like this?"

Ludwig gave a choked laugh into Roderich shoulder, the sound rumbling through his chest. "He'll probably call me a sissy."

"Exactly." said Roderich, as Ludwig pulled away and put the heels of his hand to his reddish eyes. Roderich gave him a few pats on the shoulder, and Ludwig inhaled deeply, fixing his blue eyes on Roderich. "You know, you're like the little brother I never had Roderich… I want you to take care of yourself too, alright? Once this is over, you can play Nocturne Opus 9 Number 2 for Feliciano and I, just like you used to."

Ludwig fumbled in his pockets for a while, before he fished out a square piece of paper and handed it to Roderich. "That's from Feliciano. He says that he found that in an old chest and wanted you to have it. He sends you his kisses, love and luck."

Roderich turned the square paper around to see a picture of himself, when he was around 16, with a small, brown-haired boy smiling on his lap, while his unruly, boisterous twin brother struggled to get out of Roderich's grasp. The picture was old, and with a small smile, Roderich noticed that a young Feliciano had drawn a Spanish mustache artistically over Roderich's upper lip.

Roderich couldn't help the sudden onslaught of tears trying to fall out of his eyes and hastily rubbed at them under his glasses as he felt Ludwig's arms circling around him comfortingly. He rested his forehead on the man's chest and squeezed back with one arm. "You are like an elder brother to me as well, Ludwig… Despite the fact that I'm older than you." He muttered softly. "Buy Felicano a nice cake as a thank you from me, will you?"

Ludwig chuckled. "Take care… Don't ever think that you're alone." There was a pause, then Ludwig brought his lips close to Roderich's ear. "And give my brother a chance."

Roderich jumped, flushing, as he pulled away from Ludwig. Ludwig was referring to their professional relationship right? Ludwig smiled serenely as Roderich shoved the picture into his trouser pocket, scowling at him. Then, there was a noise at the entrance. Roderich and Ludwig both looked up to see Gilbert standing there with his jaw set and a pair of hard, ruby eyes staring at them.

---

A few minutes prior:

Yao was showing Gilbert how to work the leg thrusters on his levitation gear. He kept muttering while tightening bits and pieces here and there which made Gilbert twitch in pain and Elizabeta chuckle in amusement.

"It's been a while. Where do you guys think Roddy's gone to?"

Ludwig looked up at him. "He said that he'd be in zone C." he glanced at his tablet. "But you're right, it's been more than two hours now."

Gilbert remembered how Roderich had stalked out of the main room, leaving them all speechless. He whistled.

"I gotta give it to him." he said, an impressed grin on his face. "He showed some guts a while ago."

Yao sniffed. "Along with an attitude…" he said as he removed the thrusters off Gilbert and packed them carefully.

"Be thankful for it." Ludwig told Yao. "I'm glad to see that he's finally standing up for himself."

Yao left without another word. Elizabeta, who had been staring at Gilbert suspiciously, suddenly jerked forwards and tugged something out of his jeans. Gilbert internally cursed. It was the handkerchief Roderich had handed him that morning.

"I knew it!" Elizabeta's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Gilbert. What are you doing with Roderich's hanky?"

Even Ludwig looked up from his papers at that, a questioning look in his eyes.

Gilbert tried to pull off the nonchalant look. "It's for blackmail. Proof that he really is an aristoprat. What else would it be for?"

Elizabeta gave him a disgusted glare, but Ludwig didn't look convinced. "You are so immature Gilbert!" Elizabeta said as she tried to put the piece of cloth into her dress pocket, but Gilbert suddenly jerked out and grabbed it from her hand.

Elizabeta looked surprised at first, then her eyes turned murderous. "Give it back."

"No." Gilbert replied snappily.

"Gilbert." said Elizabeta with a frightening smile. "Hand it over… right now."

"Why?" asked Gilbert, as he put the handkerchief into the inner pocket of his jacket. "Don't you have enough trinkets of Roderich's to put in your little stalker shrine dedicated to him?"

Elizabeta's eyes blazed with anger and she flew at him, fists flying and nails slashing. Gilbert stood his ground and grabbed her by the hair, hissing as her long talons raked over his hand. It would have turned into a bloodbath if Ludwig hadn't been there to restrain them.

"Seriously!" Ludwig chastised, a palm on Gilbert's heaving chest and a hand gripping Elizabeta's arm. "You two need to learn to act your age and grow up!"

Elizabeta glowered at Gilbert. "Ask your brother to stop being such a perverted asshole then."

Gilbert narrowed his eyes at the girl, a bitter feeling coming across him. "That's rich… Don't you have a Romanian boyfriend who shares you crazed bloodlust? Why don't you just give up on Roddy? It's about time isn't it? He practically told me that he hadn't felt anything while you two had been together."

Gilbert knew something was wrong with him when he felt a twisted rush of joy when Elizabeta flinched. "Roderich would never say that. Take it back!" she yelled.

"Psh!" Gilbert hissed. "I'm sick of this. First Zwingli, now you! Is there anyone else who would like to declare their undying love for Roderich? Oh, but there is… the rest of my fucking team!"

Ludwig's eyebrows shot upwards at his exclamation and Elizabeta eyes narrowed. "I don't love Roderich like that. I did once, but now I've moved on! I truly love Vladmir now. But I won't stand someone like you disregarding what I had with Roderich as though it was nothing!"

Gilbert grit his teeth. "So you don't like him anymore?"

"No I don—" Elizbeta broke off, regarding Gilbert strangely. But before she could say anything, Matthias walked into the main room, not even noticing the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Oh hey, Gilbert!" he chuckled, fist-bumping. His lip was bruised. "Never enough awesome in the room, eh?"

Gilbert's lips tilted up. "Who busted your face, bro?"

Matthias turned red and growled. "Berwald. He said that my hands were on inappropriate places on his 'wife'… but how else did he expect me to take off a jammed seatbelt?"

Gilbert whistled sharply and Matthias winked at him.

"Speaking of jammed…" muttered Matthias. Turning to Elizabeta, he handed her twenty bucks. "You won the bet. How did you know that in the whole climbing area, Edelstein would choose that one harness which Alfred broke last week?"

Liz shrugged. "He always uses that one… Cheers Mat!"

Ludwig sighed. "Where is Roderich?"

Matthias chortled. "I don't think he's figured out that it's broken yet! I'll take you to him."

Gilbert made to follow the two, but Elizabeta's hand curled vice-like on his shoulder. "We're not done yet."

Gilbert jerked away from her and watched Matthias lead his brother through the doors towards zone C. "What do you want?"

Elizabeta leaned a hand on the table's glass surface. "I want to know what the fuck you're planning with Roderich."

Gilbert's eyes met Liz's. "I dunno what you're yappin' about." Gilbert shot at her.

Elizabeta's face twisted in displeasure, her hands curled into claws at her side. "Don't give me that." Liz wasn't shouting, her voice seemed rather controlled, for now. "Why did you have that weird look on your face?"

Gilbert's eyes widened. He looked away from her green eyes and took a seat, scrolling down the screen of his tablet.

There was a heavy silence. Then, Liz dragged a chair out beside him and plopped into it, facing Gilbert. She rested one arm on the table, and put her head on it. "No! Please don't tell me that you..." she muttered quietly, staring at his profile.

Gilbert sat up, felling irked. "I really have no idea what you're going on about."

Liz's eyes narrowed at him again. "You fucking like him!" she accused.

Gilbert ignored the slight stutter of his heart and put up a confused face. "Huh?"

Liz closed her eyes and groaned. "Fuck it!" she blew out a quick breath.

Gilbert give her a hard look. "Do you plan on explaining what's going on in that stupid head of yours?"

Elizabeta shuddered. "That is so wrong, in so many ways…" she said quietly.

"Hey! Stop ignoring me!" Gilbert retorted.

Liz gave him a hard look. "Fine. Keep pretending. It doesn't change the fact that I know." she insisted. "You'll just end up hurting his feelings."

Gilbert froze. "You only went out with me for a couple months! Who are you to decide that I can't be a good boyfriend to- to anyone?" Gilbert wanted to slap himself by the way that last word had almost slipped out.

Liz's eyes were wide. "Oh my… You really do-"

"You're wrong! I don't like him, alright?" Gilbert rasped. "And I'm not attracted to him! I was just speaking… hypothetically."

"Shit." Elizabeta rubbed her forehead with a pained frown before looked back up at Gilbert. "But, you must know that it'll never work out, right? Antonio was Roderich's first lover—"

"Shut up."

"But—"

"No really, shut up!" yelled Gilbert, his hand slamming onto the table. Perhaps this was why Zwingli had those anger management issues… if liking Roderich was so unhinging, Gilbert could understand why the Swiss acted the way he did.

"Oh Gilbert…" Liz's hand was surprisingly gently on Gilbert's shoulder.

Gilbert wanted so badly to deny that he wanted anything meaningful with the man. "Stop acting like you've got everything figured out." He grated out instead.

Elizabeta's fingers squeezed painfully. "Well, I do know about that rule you have with your best friends… and the fact that you've never dated a guy before! Please think about it Gilbert, this won't end well for either of you. "

Gilbert jerked his hand back, getting up. Liz never said 'please' to him. "That's not for you to decide, Liz. We're… we're just friends." he said in a hard voice before turning to walk out the doors.

"Gilbert?" he stopped at Elizabeta's wavering voice. "I want you to know that if being with a cock-up like you is what is keeps him happy, then so be it. I won't butt in. Into your friendship."

Gilbert wasn't sure, but Liz's words sounded like she was giving him some kind of permission to be close to Roderich. He felt awkward as he turned to face her. "Fine. Whatever."

Liz nodded, but then her eyes held Gilbert's menacingly. "But if I ever get even the smallest inkling, that you've hurt Roderich in anyway, you better wish that you were fucking dead."

Gilbert's eyes widened but he simply nodded again and walked towards zone C.

This was all so fucked up…

.

.

Gilbert's blood was boiling. He had walked around towards the entrance of the climbing practice area to see Roderich, blinked rapidly with a nostalgic smile on his face, promptly burst into tears as his brother carefully took the brunette into his arms. Roderich resting his head on Ludwig's chest, mumbling something which made Ludwig laugh.

Gilbert felt acid churning behind his eyes and stinging his vision when Roderich wrapped an arm around Ludwig waist and squeezed. He could just make out the words his brother was saying. "…don't ever think that you're alone."

Then Ludwig gave a brief glance towards the entrance, and for a moment, blue eyes met red before Ludwig looked away and touched his lips to Roderich's ear and whispered something, which made the brunette look up with a blush as he pulled away from Ludwig's arms.

Roderich's tucked away the object Ludwig had given him, before he looked up and found Gilbert standing at the entrance. Violet eyes looked at him surprised, before they looked down as Roderich stared at his feet, an embarrassed expression on his face.

Gilbert ignored the feeling of wires constricting his chest, and put up a teasing smile. "Well, well… bruder! What's going on here? Have I come across something I shouldn't have… seen?"

Ludwig gave him a frown. "I was simply wishing Roderich here good luck for the mission."

Gilbert forced a laughed. "Right… Ja! That's definitely what it looked like!"

Roderich looked up confusedly and Ludwig shook his head, walking past Gilbert. Gilbert shot out his hand and put it on his brother's shoulder, clenching hard. "What about my goodbye, bruder?" his expression gave nothing away, but he knew that Ludwig had understood… something at least.

Ludwig's eyes widened. "I'll say it tonight. Or tomorrow morning." he said carefully.

"Oh?" Gilbert unclasped his fingers, and nodded. "Ja… okay. But what if I don't go back to your place tonight? Then you won't see me… just say the stupid farewell now. I swear I won't cry like Priss." he persisted heatedly.

Ludwig took a step closer to Gilbert and lowered his voice. "Stop it, bruder. Just calm down… You'll regret it if you leave like this."

Gilbert looked away as he brother left. His eyes found Roderich, who was watching him curiously. "What was that about, Gilbert?"

Gilbert walked up to Roderich as the man fiddled with the straps of the harness around him. There was a look of innocence in his eyes which made it impossible for Gilbert to let his anger out on him. "Nothing, Roddy." said Gilbert, scratching his cheek. "That wasn't anything."

Roderich eyes widened and he reached for Gilbert's hand, the one he had been scratching his face with. "Mein Gott, what happened this time Gilbert?" Roderich's soft fingers glided warily over the angry red lines Elizabeta's nails had left on his white skin.

"A gift from your ex-wife." Gilbert scowled, feeling a soft tingling where Roderich was touching him.

Roderich looked up at him, exasperated. "Really Gilbert… Is she alright?"

Gilbert nodded. "Pretty much… I only ripped out a couple hairs from her head I think."

Roderich frowned angrily and dropped Gilbert's hand. "I wonder when you both will stop… it rather seems as though you cannot get enough of each other." Roderich muttered as he turned back towards the wall and began to climb.

Gilbert wanted to laugh, wondering whether he had heard the brunette correctly or not. Did Roderich mean that he thought Gilbert still liked Liz? And why was he climbing again? The brunette knew that the harness was broken, right? He walked up behind Roderich, grabbing the man's hips just as the brunette's hand began to slip, and kept him steady. "Why're you saying that Roddy? That it's sexual tension?" Gilbert smirked and lowered his voice slightly. "You... jealous?"

At that, Roderich's foot slid out from under him and he swung away from the wall, right into Gilbert's arms. Roderich's stomach fell in line with Gilbert's face, and his hands clamped onto Gilbert's shoulders. Gilbert wound his arms tight around Roderich's hips to keep him where he was. His heart was threatening to burst out of his chest. Above him, Roderich was blushing furiously. "As if, you dummkopf!" he squeaked. "Why would I be jealous?"

Gilbert didn't speak. He simply enjoyed the moment, feeling heat pooling into his lower body. "Let me down." Roderich said in a small voice.

Gilbert grinned up at him. "If I let go now, the harness will jerk up and it'll hurt."

"Then do not drop me! Just get me down slowly!" Roderich said, wincing.

Gilbert chuckled, then stopped when he felt Roderich's body shudder above him. Gently, he loosened his hold and lowered Roderich slowly until the brunette's chest was in level with his face. Roderich put his arms around Gilbert's neck and huffed. Gilbert let Roderich down the rest of the way, keeping him steady when his feet finally met the ground. The brunette unwound his arms from around Gilbert giving a nervous titter, before trying to step away. But Gilbert tugged Roderich's waist towards him by pulling on the harness, and began to unclasp it. "So… what was bruder talking to you about?" he asked casually.

"Ah… He was just saying goodbye." Gilbert could hear the smile in Roderich voice. He pulled at the ropes on the harness with renewed vigor. How pathetic… was he jealous of his little brother? "Be kind to him later, Gilbert. Reassure him or something… I should not be telling you this, but this was the first time I saw Ludwig break down."

Gilbert frowned, meeting Roderich's gaze. "What're you talking about? You were the one bawling a while ago! I saw Ludwig hugging you."

Roderich shook his head, smiling. "No! That happened right after! Ludwig cares for you so much, Gilbert. He was shaking so badly…"

And with those simple words, Gilbert began to feel guilty and annoyed at the same time. Finally, after getting Roderich's harness off him, Gilbert wasted no time in grabbing his hand and dragging him towards combat practice… The brunette complaining behind him as he struggled to keep up.

Nothing like a few bouts of vigorous 'tussling' to get his mind off things! Oh... how he enjoyed getting Roderich on his back!

---

Gilbert grinned when he caught sight of Roderich, his luggage rolling beside him automatically as he walked.

As their passports indicated that they were both around 20 years old, Gilbert and Roderich had dressed the part. Roderich was in tight, black jeans which looked like they were part of his skin, and a sleeveless lilac top with the front was cut in a low V, giving Gilbert a nice view of fine collarbones. Gilbert's stomach gave a weird roll when he saw that Roderich was not wearing his silver chain. A thick jacket was lying beside the Austrian as he sat in the waiting area, one leg perched on top of the other, reading a book.

A book.

Not an electronic one, or even a projected one… It was an actual book, made of yellowing paper. Trust Roderich to own things which had disappeared centuries ago.

Gilbert checked his reflection before approaching the brunette. Personally, he thought that he looked fucking hot. He was wearing a sleeveless zipper hoodie, zipped low enough to show off the muscles on his chest. The dark red jeans he'd chosen were not too baggy, but hung low enough on his hips to display the V of his pelvic muscles. He had gelled his hair up. It was not as professionally as Ludwig's, but enough so that his bangs stuck upwards in a stylish wave, baring his forehead, and he made the back look windswept. Gilbert's natural appearance did not look unusual at all. White hair was stylish these days along with all the other outrageous, exaggerated fashions, with all the surge-freaks and cheap surgery procedures. Thank Gott for the open-mindedness of 36th Century trends…

Roderich's hair was styled in slightly unruly waves, but Gilbert eyes found the curly strand which refused to stay down. His raised his hand, spinning the lock of hair around his finger and pulled on it gently as he sat down beside the other man.

"You couldn't get the curl lying flat, huh?"

When Roderich looked up, and his violet eyes clashed with Gilbert's rose red ones, the albino knew that he was in trouble. Roderich was not wearing his glasses and Gilbert gulped when he noticed that the Austrian's wide, expressive eyes were framed with black.

Gilbert blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Hey, you're wearing eyeliner, Priss!" Nice one, Gilbert…

Roderich shoulders scrunched up at that and he looked away. "I know. Elizabeta is the one who forced me to wear it… I kept telling her that it was too much."

"No!" Roderich looked back up at Gilbert, who gulped to calm his nerves. "It's chic these days! It looks pretty- pretty good... on you…"

"Oh, thank you Gilbert." Roderich's voice sounded mildly surprised. "You look… really nice as well."

"Haha! I know right?" said Gilbert rowdily. "When are we boarding?"

Roderich checked his wristwatch, the one Vash Zwingli had given him. "Any minute now. You are late by the way."

Gilbert scoffed. "Ja? I don't think I see Yao here yet."

Roderich looked around them to make sure that they were out of earshot. "Change of plans." He murmured, bringing his face close to Gilbert's. "Yao went on ahead last night to get things ready."

Gilbert nodded. "Got your rockets?" he asked.

"You know I do not go for those Gilbert." replied Roderich with a smile. "But I have my sharpies. Airport security truly is terrible."

Gilbert grinned. "Ja. One little magnetized chip and the drones are down for 10 seconds..."

Roderich's looked up from his book once again and surveyed Gilbert ostentatiously. The albino bit back the urge to suddenly zip up his hoodie. "You… you look younger, Gilbert." he said.

Gilbert raised his hands dramatically. "What's that supposed to mean, Little Master? You sayin' that I look like an old man the rest of the the time?"

Roderich gave a laugh. "I did not say that! But… what I was trying to say was that this suits you. You could pass for a high school student now. Finally a look to match with your personality."

Gilbert felt a tiny butterfly fluttering in his stomach. "Ah... Well that 'cause I'm Prussian! Prussians preserve well!"

"Gilbert, Prussia came into existence two years after you were born!" said Roderich, shaking his head.

"Ja, but everyone keeps forgetting that the revolts first began the day I was born!" Gilbert insisted. "But that's taking us away from the main point!" he grinned. "So you think I look good, Priss?"

Roderich's eyes flitted back to his book. "I should never have said that." he groused.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "You're not denying it!"

Roderich angrily turned one page after the other, nearly ripping out a couple in the process. "If you are just going to interpret things the way you want—"

Roderich's voice was cut short when Gilbert slowly pulled the small hardback volume out of Roderich's violent grasp. "You're going to shred it to pieces…" said Gilbert, watching Roderich carefully. "We don't want that. It's gotta be expensive right?

The brunette looked like he wanted to complain about something. "I- I…"

Gilbert smiled to himself as he placed the book onto Roderich's lap, and leaned closer to him. "You know Roddy… That still wasn't a 'no'."

Roderich looked up and then leaned backwards when he noticed their proximity. Gilbert really wanted to do something, like reaching out and tugging on Roderich's unruly curl…

But the magical instant was broken as music rang out overhead. "Announcement: Business class passengers on flight AGTH 6134 to New Busan: For seats on rows 31 to 50, please board the aircraft through gate 6. Rows 21 to 30, through gate 5. Rows 1 to 20, through gate 4…"

Gilbert let out a small huff and tipped himself back straight. "That's us."he said, checking to see the tiny eleven printed on their boarding cards.

Roderich simply gave a nod of acknowledgement and shoved his book into his bag, breathing out slowly.

Gilbert chuckled to himself… So that's his game face.

---

Roderich was nearly in tears. He winced as the plane swerved to avoid another flash of lightning which crackled right beside their window. Despite the sound dampeners, both Gilbert and Roderich heard the loud rumble of thunder. It was the only problem with self-flying planes these days… The plane had to fly relatively low because it needed signals from the ground stations on the mountains which they were presently flying over. Therefore, it couldn't climb higher to avoid the rain clouds in fear of losing contact.

As Gilbert ate his third ice-cream, Roderich took off his wireless earphones and turned to him. At first, Roderich didn't speak. Gilbert had noticed that the brunette had been slightly restless since the beginning of their flight, so he put another spoonful of beer-flavored ice into his mouth and waited patiently.

Finally, Roderich huffed. "I do not trust Yao, Gilbert. Not on this mission." he said guiltily.

Gilbert sighed. "I understand why you feel that way—"

"No, you do not." Roderich said, his eyes locking onto Gilbert's desperately. "I asked Ludwig and he told me that Yao had insisted on accompanying us. He could have gone with Arthur and Alfred! Why was he so adamant on coming with us? Why?"

"Shush!" Gilbert pinched two fingers to close Roderich's mouth shut. "Calm down, Priss! You're being really loud. Wouldn't want to wake the other passengers up."

Roderich lips moved slightly beneath his digits, and Gilbert felt himself flush. "Buth Gibbert…" the brunette mumbled.

Gilbert removed his hand but grabbed Roderich's chin. "Well, answer me this. Why'd you trust me? You know that I'm holding a grudge against Braginski… that I was held hostage for a year and that my time with those psychos traumatized me to some point at least. How am I any different from Yao?"

"What are you talking about?"Roderich had a confused look on his face. "I trust you because you are Gilbert. No matter what happened before… you would never let anything come between yourself and finishing the mission." he said in a matter-of-factly way.

Gilbert heart faltered pitifully. He let go of Roderich's chin. "It'll be fine, Roddy. Look, let's give Yao a chance, alright? I promise you that I'll be on my guard all the time, ja?"

Roderich nodded morosely and flinched as another bolt of lightning flashed beside his window. He snatched Gilbert's spoon from his hand and dug it into the cup of ice cream before putting a large chunk of ice into his mouth. Before Gilbert could so much as raise an eyebrow at the flustered action, there was static on the overhead speakers before a voice rang out loud and clear.

"Good evening dear passengers. This is your automated aircraft speaking. Please engage your safety-belts as we will be experiencing minor turbulence during the next fifteen minutes. We are flying over Eastern Eurasia at the moment, coordinates nine, five, four, eleven, twelve, thirty-seven. Have a nice flight."

Gilbert sat frozen on his chair. When he turned to Roderich, he saw that the brunette had an equally shocked expression on his face.

Because the voice had not been that of the automated plane's, it had been Yao's.

Because Yao had just told them to get off the plane because there were explosives on it, set to blow in 12 minutes and 37 seconds.

.

.

"Parachutes will be near the doors…" Roderich was speaking frantically. "There is no way to overrun commands, try to land, then evacuate everyone. We do not have enough tim-"

"I'm not leaving."

"Gilbert..."

"No! I can't leave these people to die here!"

"What are you saying Gilbert? You would throw away your chance on getting even with Braginski, before you even have a go at it?"

Gilbert gave him a look. "Of course! What's that compared to losing a thousand innocent lives, that's not awesome!"

"Gilbert. If you di—"

"I'm planning on saving this plane, which means that I plan on escaping this shit alive."

"Gilbert… 20 billion people, along with the rest of Earth's life forms will perish if we are not successful with the Braginski case!"

A sigh. "They won't, Roderich. You're getting off this plane and will continue with the mission if I don't— if anything goes wrong."

Roderich realized how serious Gilbert was being when the man used his name... for the first time since they had met.

He understood now what Ludwig had meant about Gilbert making selfless decisions. For some reason, Roderich felt a surge of pride at the albino.

"Well then." said Roderich, when he realized that nothing he would say would deter the albino. They were standing in front of the automated crew areas. "We should not be wasting time arguing about this."

Roderich turned to pull the curtains away but a hand grabbed onto his. "Whoa… where do you think you're going?" asked Gilbert, frowning.

Roderich furrowed his eyebrows. "To help you deactivate the bomb of course. I am sorry if this shatters your ego, but I do not think that you are an expert on neutralizing bombs."

Gilbert squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't let you do that Roddy."

Roderich sniffed, affronted. "Do you really think you can tell me—"

Roderich stopped at the sudden fire blazing in Gilbert's eyes when he opened them. "You're gonna get a parachute, and get off this plane, right now!" he said, snarling.

And Roderich breath hitched again… There it was, the lure he felt every time the man did something like this. There was no point denying it now. Roderich simply smiled to himself and wrenched out of Gilbert's grip, smiling to show that the albino had not even managed to sway him the slightest.

"Make me." he said simply, before throwing the curtain's open with his other hand. Three aesthetically developed automatons looked up at him questioningly.

Roderich pulled three disabling chips from his pockets and threw them, like he threw his blades. He hit two with his right hand and one with his left. The automated bodies slumped immediately and Roderich took out two knives from the exterior soles of his high boots and cut off the wires on their necks.

There was noise behind him. "Roddy, I—" Gilbert began, but Roderich cut him off with a determined shake of his head.

"You, Gilbert, are going to shut up and open that valve above you. We both know that ten minutes won't be enough to get either us safely of this plane."

It was a lie… and they both knew it. Ten minutes would be just enough to get away, but neither of them would do it. Not now.

Gilbert gave Roderich a pained look, but did as he asked. Roderich placed himself under the square-shaped hole and jumped up, grabbing the steel sides of the hatch as he pushed himself up. He checked his watch as Gilbert straightened up beside him: forty seconds had passed already.

Gilbert pulled out his phone, turning on the flashlight application. Both of them jumped as Roderich's cell phone suddenly vibrated. The number calling them was blocked. Sharing a grim look with Gilbert, Roderich answered the call and put the phone on speaker.

"What the heck are you two still doing on that plane?" shouted Yao's voice worriedly. "Your trackers are showing that you're still on board. Another two minutes and your window of escape will close permanently, get off now!"

Roderich felt a sudden bubble of rage boiling inside him. "Yao, let us start first with explaining why this plane was so conveniently rigged up—"

Gilbert grabbed the phone from his hand and stepped out of his reach. "Not now, Roddy! Yao, we're not getting off until we find the bomb. Tell us where it is."

"Ai ya, you guys!" came Yao irritated voice. "Now is not the time for heroics, leave that stupid stuff for Alfred and just jump!"

"Yao." Gilbert voice was dangerous. "Track the bomb now. You'd have some form of thermal or chemical signature, right?"

A high-pitched voice said something from a distance on the line, but Yao cut it off. "It's too dangerous, you ben dan! Gilber—"

"Yao, this is an order." Roderich had never heard such authority in Gilbert's voice before. "As Team Leader, I expect you to give me results, now!"

There was static on the phone and suddenly, the high voice was speaking. "Hey there! Like, just so you guys know, you guys have like 9 minutes left. You sure you wanna do this?"

Gilbert and Roderich exchanged a look. "Yes!" they yelled simultaneously.

"Okay, okay!" said the girly voice. "You guys have to like tell me exactly where you are. I have a screen which is showing me that your trackers are inside the hold above the crew quarters—"

"That is where we are!" Roderich said, pulling Gilbert's hand close in order to speak into the phone.

"Okay. Listen carefully. There are ten closets on that plane, five above and five on the lower deck. There are eight galleys, several crew quarters leading to the avionics hatch, the attic-" the voice paused. "Right, my team has like isolated two signals. There is a heat signature in the avionics hold, and traces of chemical in the galley underneath business class."

Gilbert nodded. "Copy that. We'll have to split up—"

"No." Roderich said suddenly. "The avionics is giving off heat at the moment because the weather radar and the lightning detectors are running on full power, along with the aircraft collision avoidance systems because of the mountainous terrain we are flying over. The bomb has to be in the galley."

Gilbert gave Roderich a brief look of awe. "You heard that, girly-voice?"

"My name's like, Feliks."

Gilbert shrugged. "Right, can you lead us to the galley?"

"It's like, pretty straightforward. There is a hatch visible on the right aisle in the business class cabin." Feliks sighed melancholically. "But that's like, all I can do for you guys. It's like, up to you now."

"Thank you, Feliks." said Roderich. "Over and out."

Gilbert stared at him. "How're we gonna get through the hatch without having people notice?

Roderich bit his lip. "I might have an idea. I just hope that it will work. I have to get to the flight deck and control cabin. From there I will be able to reduce the oxygen in the business class cabin just enough to have the passengers lose consciousness, momentarily of course."

Gilbert nodded. "So... I'll be waiting at the hatch with my own canister of oxygen and as soon as they faint, I'll open it and… you'll catch up by then?" he deduced.

"Yes." I hope. Roderich added in his head. "I will need you to hand me a couple of those disabling chips, there will be quite a few safety defaults to overcome."

Gilbert pulled out a fistful from his pocket, and placed the small, steel, circuit boards on Roderich palm. Then, he closed Roderich's fingers over the chips and placed both his hands over it. "We can do this, Prinzessin." He said, his jaw clenched in determination. His eyes roved over Roderich as though he was trying to memorize his face. Then, he let go and turned, jumping down swiftly through the narrow hatch back into the crew quarters.

Roderich felt something leave him. As goodbyes went, this was the worst one he could have imagined for himself and Gilbert. As he rushed towards the panel leading to the control cabin on the other side of the hold, Roderich promised himself that it hadn't been a farewell… That he would see that stupid albino again.

Reaching the panel, Roderich pressed his watch against the password entering square. It had a disabling chip in it. There was a soft pling as the lights above the door turned green and the white panel slid open. But then, as Roderich entered the room, the door slid shut behind him with a foreboding clang and the screens in the room came to life with the words SECURITY BREACHED flashing across their surface in different languages. Roderich froze as there was a sound of straining metal behind him. Turning around, Roderich had a brief second to look upon the monstrous machine in front of him, before thick wires shot from the android towards him.

---

Gilbert wanted to pace, but that was a difficult feat to achieve given the constricted space in the aisle of a plane. He had two canisters of oxygen in his pocket and was breathing from one of them at short intervals. Gilbert checked the digital clock on his phone, less than four fucking minutes left.

How's Roderich doing? Gilbert should never have left him… No! This wasn't the time to be thinking about stuff like that. Gilbert had to get his head back into the mission. He cocked his semi-automatic for the fourth time wonder what use it would come to. Wouldn't shooting a bomb just detonate it?

There was a crash as something fell inside the business class cabin. Gilbert immediately poked his head through the curtains of the crew cabin and saw that a man had dropped his electronic tablet, apparently immersed deep in sleep, like the rest of the passengers. Come to think of it, Gilbert himself was beginning to feel rather lightheaded. Shaking his head feverishly, Gilbert inhaled another breathe of undiluted O2, before entering the cabin.

He rushed forwards along the aisle and found the hatch around seat number 5. Switching his gun to silent mode, Gilbert fired off a shot at the lock and wrenched the steel away, opening the hatch. Jumping into the galley, Gilbert immediately knew that something was not right.

The whole area smelled of flowers. The scent was potent and rather alluring, but Gilbert was on his guard. Following his nose, he headed deeper into the galley and until his eyes found what they had been seeking for. A cylinder of yellow fluid, as long and thick as Gilbert's middle finger, was sitting innocently on top of a cubic block of material, the surface of which contained a series of ever-changing numbers. Why couldn't deactivating a bomb be simpler… like cutting a wire for example? After all, that stuff had been pretty popular during the 2D movie era!

There was a screech of metal above Gilbert, who raised his gun in apprehension, only to see a square flap slash open as Roderich Edelstein fell out of it, landing on shoulders and rolling on to his feet with a groan. Gilbert immediately dropped his gun and pulled the brunette to his chest before he collapsed. Looking up through the steel flap Roderich had jumped through, Gilbert could see ripped wires and cords, electric sparks flying as bright red light flickered madly inside the room.

"Err… Roddy. You sure that the plane won't just crash from what you did to the control room?"

Roderich heaved a laugh, which seemed to pain him as he clutched at his side with a gasp the next second. "The bomb… hurry." he managed to utter.

Gilbert led him towards the contraption, and the moment Roderich saw it, Gilbert felt him slump further into his arms. "Oh, Gilbert. I am so sorry." he whispered desolately, clutching at Gilbert's arms around him as his body twitched. The deep cuts on his arms and legs were bleeding out. "It is a multi-dimensional algorithm. I could have solved it... but it will take much longer than two minutes. I am afraid that there is nothing we can do."

Gilbert didn't know what to think, what to feel… All he knew was that he was about to lose his life, and Roderich. But for some reason, he didn't feel too scared at his imminent death… But he was worried about Roderich. Gilbert grabbed the brunette's now tearstained face in both hands and put their foreheads together, breathing deeply as Roderich shuddered in his arms frantically, he eyes boring into Gilbert's, before he fell unconscious.

At least their deaths would be painless, instantaneous… or so he hoped. Who knew what that tube of yellow liquid was capable of? As sudden anger filled him at his own helplessness, Gilbert felt himself rise and reach out for the guilty cylinder in question. Heck, what could go wrong now? His fingers closed around the surprisingly cold object and he jerked it upwards with all his might, pulling it out of its slot on the cube. Not a second later, the cube let out a pathetic noise and the lights displaying the random numbers on its sides went out with a faint pop. The lights on the aircraft went out momentarily, before turning back on again.

Gilbert stared. Was that it? They were alive! Had he really switched off the bomb? He looked at the tube in his hand. The liquid had changed into a denser, red fluid, which looked eerily like blood. Gilbert felt himself shiver as he put the tube in the pocket of his sleeveless hoodie, zipping the opening up.

Now that the immediate dangers were out of the way, Gilbert took in the full extent of Roderich's injuries. The Austrian's lilac top was ripped in several places. Rivulets of crimson fell out of the cuts on his arms and neck. Blood from his slashed thigh was pouring out onto his jeans and there was a large bruise beginning to form on his left side, possibly from a couple of broken ribs. There were several bruises coiling on his wrists, arms and waist, as though some snake-like object had grabbed him. Gilbert gingerly pulled Roderich up to his chest, holding the man up bridal-style. It wasn't the external injuries Gilbert was worried about, Yao's medicine could deal with that. Gilbert simply hoped that Roderich didn't have any bad internal injuries.

---

.

"Nnnn-ghhh!" Roderich groaned as he woke.

Gilbert didn't waste a second further before he sat Roderich up, wrapping his arms around the brunette's waist and placing his forehead on his neck.

"Gilbert?" Roderich called unsurely, his body very stiff.

Gilbert ignored Roderich's shocked gasp as he burrowed his face closer to the Austrian, inhaling the man's unique, intoxicating smell through the thin cotton of his T-shirt.

"Gilbert!" came the insistent cry, as Roderich tried to pull away from Gilbert strong grip.

"C'mon, Priss." Gilbert muttered into Roderich's collarbones. "You comforted Ludwig when he was upset, didn't you? Don't you have the heart for another poor, lost soul in need?"

Gilbert felt Roderich loosen up and chuckle softly. "You? A poor, lost soul?" he grumbled as he placed a hand with an IV sticking to it on Gilbert's shoulder, patting softly.

Gilbert laughed into Roderich neck and felt the brunette shiver his in arms. "You almost died Roddy. Yao said that the huge robot beat you up pretty bad. You feeling cold?"

"No…" came the reply. "Are you almost done yet?"

Gilbert tightened his hold, pulling Roderich's upper body flush against his in response.

"Alright! I get your point…" Roderich cried out. "I was worried about you too… I cannot believe that we truly are alive."

'Hmmm."

The hand rose and Gilbert felt Roderich's fingers brushing his hair. "Your hair is spiky again I see. It's ticking my throat." he complained.

"Hmmm."

"Do not fall asleep like this Gilbert!" Roderich warned.

"Hmmm."

"I am serious!"

As if he could fall asleep now… Gilbert had never felt more awake, more alive in his life. His senses felt as though they had been amplified tenfold, just by Roderich's presence.

Roderich's scent, the feel of his hot body, was like wildfire… burning away all of Gilbert's misgivings, until only pure desire remained.

When Gilbert did pull away, he did so reluctantly. Roderich looked at the IV needle stuck to the back of his hand and blushed when he realized that he was clad only in a cotton dressing gown. He looked around at the medical equipment beeping and whirring around him and made to stand up. But Gilbert pushed him back down.

"Rest. We're safe." he told Roderich.

"Where are we?" asked Roderich.

"In the headquarters of our Intelligence branch here at New Busan. It's led by the guy with the girly-voice who we heard over the com."

Roderich ran a hand over his forehead. "What time is it?"

"A little past 11 pm."

"Gilbert… how long have I been unconscious?"

"For more than 24 hours." came Yao's voice as the door to the medical bay slid open. "It was perfect conditions for healing… you have made a 100% recovery."

The Chinese man stopped at the edge of Roderich's bed along with a short, blond man whose silky hair was parted in the middle.

"Like, hi! I'm Feliks Łukasiewicz." said the blonde with a two-fingered salute to Roderich. "I have to say, I like totally loved the way you set the controls to change the flight's number right at the moment the bomb was suppose to explode! The ground station machines at the airport almost short-circuited when your plane like disappeared midair and another one came into existence! Fortunately, I was totally able to fake a takeoff from Berlin for the new plane you created."

Gilbert gave a look of understanding. "So that's why the lights went off and came back on right after the cube thing shut itself down."

Roderich was smiling. "So, how is it that we are alive?" Roderich asked, almost conspiratorially. "How did you ever shut down such a complex system, Gilbert?

"I kinda just pulled the tube out of the cube… and everything just stopped." replied Gilbert meekly, scratching his head.

Roderich's mouth fell open in indignation. "That was all it took? Are you being serious?" he folded his arms on his chest with a sour expression as Gilbert grinned apologetically at him.

"Are you hurting anywhere?" Yao questioned, tapping away on a screen which had Roderich's skeleton on display.

Roderich looked at his arms again, where the scars were now non-existent, the bruises all gone. Then he moved his arms around and padded his legs on the bed.

"I feel… fine." he said after the long diagnostic.

"Like, not at all." said the blond Polish man. "I can tell when people are telling the truth, like literally. That wasn't the whole truth now was it, Roderich?"

"You're like Francis?" asked Gilbert curiously. "He's erm… 827 positive or something."

"You mean 812,7." said Feliks. "The lie detecting gene… I'm like, the truth detecting gene, 813, get it?"

Gilbert nodded as he mulled the though over in his head, then suddenly snapped his head back towards Roderich. "Wait, so if you didn't tell the truth, does that mean you're still hurting somewhere?" Gilbert's eyes were already scrutinizing Roderich's body before the answer came.

Roderich opened his mouth, then closed it. "Not particularly. I do have some pains on my shoulder from when I fell on my shoulder, but that is it."

Yao was already rummaging in a drawer as Feliks smiled gleefully and gently pulled Roderich's dressing gown away from his shoulders.

"If it's just an impact bruise then this will take care of it." said Yao holding up a soothing balm.

Gilbert stood where he was and grinned as he watched Roderich not looking too pleased at being fussed over.

That, and because his pale shoulders were simply too gorgeous to ignore.

---

.

"Gilbert?" Roderich called suddenly. They were alone inside the meeting room at their Korean headquarters, waiting for the mission briefing to begin.

"Ja?"

Roderich fidgeted in his seat. "I was thinking… so many agents in our Intelligence have special genes which make them more competent at espionage. Perhaps-"

"No." Gilbert interjected wearily, rubbing at his face. "I see where this is going and-"

"...if I had a gene like that? I would be more proficient at executing missions…"

"Roddy, no matter what you're thinkin', you are a really good agent, okay?" Gilbert said firmly. "Be glad that I just said that, because such a sissy sentence is never coming out of my awesome mouth again!"

"But I-"

"And… you probably do have a special gene, you know." Gilbert mused. "The way you keep hitting bull's-eyes with those pointies… it's kinda unnatural."

"My blood tests show noting out of the ordinary." Roderich rambled on, looking forlorn.

Gilbert shrugged. "I dunno… Hey, maybe it's a gene they haven't discovered yet?" he joked.

"Don't be silly Gilbert." said Roderich, not giving away an inch. "Besides, Arthur has a 150% hit accuracy with his arrows as well."

"Ah hah!" Gilbert yelled with a smirk. "Remember what I said about you two being blood brothers?"

Roderich lips tilted upwards slightly, and he seemed to be consoled enough for the moment. Seriously though, Gilbert didn't understand what the entire craze on having special genes was about. Okay, sure they got you more popularity and they were freakin' superpowers, but still…Since their first appearance around the early 30th Century, they had continued evolving, multiplying. These days, there were more special genes than the number of awesome cells in Gilbert's body...

"Gilbert?"

"What?" Gilbert replied, trying not to sound exasperated. When Roderich was on a roll about his insercuities, is was fucking hard to reassure him.

"It is normal for siblings to kiss each other, correct?"

Gilbert looked up at that, rather surprised, wondering what had brought this question on. "I guess? I used to kiss Luddy when he was younger." he answered.

"On the lips?"

Gilbert did a double take. "Wait… WHAT?!"

"Stop shouting!" said Roderich quickly, before looking at his intertwined fingers on his lap. "It's just something I saw the other day…"

"Oh." said Gilbert, at a loss for anything better to say.

"Are Arthur and Alfred really brothers?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "No, they aren't related by blood. Arthur kinda adopted Alfred when he was around sixteen and Alfred was kid."

Roderich was frowning. "Oh."

"Ja." said Gilbert, watching Roderich sigh thoughtfully. He sat up straight on his chair. "Priss, did something happen?"

Before Roderich could answer however, there were noises of vicious arguing at the door and it fell open with a slam.

"Don't be stupid!" Maria Christina was saying fiercely. "Of course I triple-checked everything!"

But Fritz was having none of it. "Then how could there have been explosives—"

"Silence!" yelled Yao. "You act like children, aru. If you are referring to the plane, then yes we think it was an experiment. Not because two of our top agents were on board. Thankfully, because of Feliks and Roderich, the perpetrators will now think that the plane crashed and disappeared somewhere in the Himalayan mountains."

The three of them were seething at each other as they took their seats around Gilbert and Roderich.

"Will they not be looking for the results from their experiment?" questioned Fritz sardonically.

Roderich frowned at him. "Well, they cannot exactly scour frozen mountaintops for all eternity. They may try if they wish to do so."

"Hey, hey… enough." Gilbert called, before a major fight could break out. "Fritz, do we have any idea how to access this factory where the machines are being built?"

Fritz worried his lip. "Actually, Team Leader, we still don't know which factory it is."

Maria shook her head and addressed Roderich. "Team Leader, the scouts I sent out found a place which could possibly be the base. But we are not sure."

Yao nodded. "Maria's team also found a gathering being held tonight at Busan Palace, by Im Yong Soo. Delegates from many countries will be attending it."

Yao was worrying his lip. "Have wires put up around the area. I need eyes in every room of the palace, and our agents undercover inside and outside the building."

Maria stood up at that. "I shall see that everything is in order." she said. "We are going to be doing a reconnaissance tonight at the whorehouse Im Young Soo frequents to extract information from him as well."

"Is that so?" asked Yao, grinning smoothly. "Be gentle then."

Fritz seemed to be struggling to say something, but couldn't. Gilbert knew that he favored battle and gunfire over unorthodox methods like these. His eyes met Maria's, before he looked away with a flushed complexion. "What is it Fritz, spit it out!" called Gilbert.

Maria rolled her eyes. "It's nothing. It's just that this gathering is actually going to be more of a disco party… a very debauched disco party."

Feliks blew on his nails. "Then the brothel tonight will totally be good practice, right?" he winked at Roderich, who started.

Gilbert pale eyebrows flew up. "Ja. Then we need our best agents there."

"So... Have they got any closer at finding out what that chemical does?" asked Roderich. "Assuming the fact that Braginski will be using that particular chemical in his plan for world annihilation?"

Yao shook his head. "I am sorry, aru. To my best understanding, based on what Gilbert told us, the chemical becomes potent when it's colder. It loses density, becomes pale yellow and gives off the scent of flowers. However, we do not have safe conditions to study this substance here. If things go wrong then we might inadvertently release a global pandemic right here."

They all muttered understandingly.

There was rush of padding feet and Feliks burst into the room, completely out of breath.

"L-like… turn… turn on the com!" he managed through his rough breathing, his hands on his knees.

Yao hastened to the screen in front of them and a video came up. It seemed to be a phone call. The background was showing a sunny afternoon in what looking like the Indian citadel, and in front of them were the faces of Arthur and Alfred, the latter looking relatively more tanned than before.

"Is it on? Alfred, stop pushing me— oh look, I can see them."

"Hey dudes, can you hear us?" Alfred yelled, waving his hand wildly in front of the camera.

"Yes, we hear you loud and clear Alfred." replied Roderich. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Oh, this here's the problem alright." the American answered grimly as the camera spun around to show a well-aired cell, in which a big bulky figure lay bloodied, covered in thin blankets, and apparently unconscious.

Gilbert didn't understand the sudden gasps which sounded across the room and why Roderich suddenly put his hand on Gilbert's forearm.

"Impossible." Fritz said. "But that simply can't be! We have videos of him! Countless images of him leaving the Eurasian capital for the party at Busan tomorrow!"

"We have checked everything." came Arthur's voice from off-screen. "DNA, fingerprints, cerebral scans… this is him."

"But if he is being held prisoner in the Kingdom of India…" muttered Roderich slowly. "Then who is the person waging chemical warfare on the rest of the world?"

At that moment, the bundle of blankets moved slightly to reveal a mop of beige-blond hair, and a pair of purple eyes, darker than Roderich's clear lilacs. The man was tall, Gilbert saw with a jolt in his stomach. Gilbert's incomprehension melted away when he watched transfixed as the prisoner uncovered a round, childish face with a prominent nose. The constant smile Gilbert had seen on his face was no longer there as the man stared desolately at the camera.

Gilbert felt a cold sense of awareness… then nothing at all.

Because the man lying inside the Indian prison was Ivan Braginski.

---

.

"This isn't a good idea."

"Like, stop it Gilbert." Feliks called as he put on another of darker shade over his eyelids. If he had looked effeminate before, then he definitely looked like a girl now. He was wearing a green capelet over his leather jacket and his tight pants looking like they were part of his skin, accompanied by accessories like brooches and thin gloves. "You know, you don't really seem to have any... emotion on finding about Braginski."

Gilbert looked at Feliks through his reflection on the mirror. "None of us really know what's goin' on. You want me to bawl in frustration or something?"

The Polish let out a girly titter. "No. I thought that you wanted to seek revenge. Even I reacted more than you did when we heard about Braginski's duplicate." Feliks uncapped some shiny lip gloss. "Like, what do you really want out of this, Gilbert?"

"I dunno." said Gilbert, realizing the truth of his words. Gilbert was dressed for his role as a client with a black suit, a pocket square and an ascot tie, his weapons and gadgets effectively hidden in different parts of his outfit. He had opted to smooth his hair back like Ludwig's, to give him a more professional look. The red rose he had fastened to the collar of his suit clashed nicely with the crimson of his eyes, giving him a rather dashing look. "Right at this moment, all I care about is solving this problem. Braginski comes later."

They both looked up at the sound of shoes clacking down the staircase.

"I did not know what to expect, but is this not a little too much?" called Roderich as he stepped into the room.

Gilbert's breath hitched at the sight. His jaw waved him a goodbye as it dropped to the floor.

Roderich Edelstein looked a perverted artist's erotic wet dream had been painted out by the hands of an angel. His long plum-purple frock coat was translucent, showing a dark blue vest with black lining, a white button-up sleeveless shirt, black shorts and long black stockings, along with high-heeled boots with lavender laces. When Roderich twirled around, Gilbert saw that the shirt and vest had intricate flower petal designs cut all across its back, showing more skin than not.

The fabric of his stockings moved along with the lean muscles on Roderich's legs as he approached them. His long eyelashes had glitter over them and his eyes were framed with dark violet liner. "Well?"

For one thing, Gilbert had the answer to Feliks's question now: he definitely knew what he wanted.

Feliks was clapping giddily. "Yao like totally did a wonderful job with your Homme Fatale look!"

"Homme what?" asked Gilbert, roving his eyes over Roderich.

Feliks turned to him. "Like, don't tell me you don't know. We're totally gonna be the two hipsters trying to attract the bad boys' attention tonight." he said as though it were obvious.

Gilbert suddenly felt as though he could sympathize with Alfred when Arthur had to go out on dangerous missions like this… "You mean, you guys are the bait?"

"And the tickets to the Palace party!"

"Please refrain from objectifying me like that." Roderich huffed.

Feliks shrugged. "It's the truth. By the way, you look hot."

Gilbert's eyes flashed to Feliks.

"I still think it would have been better to get Maria onto this." Roderich said, raising his hand almost absentmindedly to fiddle with the red rose on Gilbert's collar.

Feliks smacked his lips together to spread the gel and looked at Roderich disbelievingly. "You're kidding me right? Everyone knows that Ivan likes the young, pretty-boy types. So clone-Ivan should be the same. If Im Yong Soo likes us tonight, then he'll invite us to the party tomorrow! We're sure of it!"

Roderich looked up at Gilbert worriedly. "Gilbert, what happens if anyone recognizes you." he asked, straightening Gilbert's ascot now.

Gilbert grabbed both of Roderich wrists with one hand. "You gotta relax, Roddy. I told you, I have a hunch about this!"

"But…"

"Roddy, you need to worry about yourself, ja?" said Gilbert, shaking his head. "I hope that you realize that you totally look like a man-whore, Priss!"

Roderich flew out of Gilbert's grasp. "Well, that was the look we were going for." he said, all high and mightily.

Gilbert sniggered.

Yao came in with their communicators and speakers. "We will be in touch at all times." he assured them. "Braginski is going to arrive by tomorrow at a safe location a couple clicks north of here, Maria is getting him from there. Remember to activate the collar-brooch cameras after you pass through security."

"Got it." said Gilbert. "So, everyone has their gadgets and stuff?"

Roderich padded his hand over the seeming flat areas of his clothing and nodded. Gilbert felt his pistols and the thrusters on his back as he rolled his shoulder blades. Feliks rubbed his gloved hands together and simply smacked his lips again with a sly smile.

"Great." called Gilbert. "Let's do this."

---

.

Gilbert's eyes narrowed as he watched a waiter lead Roderich and Feliks away.

"Gilbert. No unexpected moves please." Yao said suddenly, sliding up beside him. His amber eyes were fixed on a limousine drifting up the driveway. His long black hair was hidden by a brownish holographic wig.

"Why would I do something like that?" Gilbert retorted, insulted that Yao would question his professionalism.

"Because we both know that you have a loose wire when it comes to Roderich." Yao answered. "Especially with what he might have to do tonight."

Before Gilbert could retort a half-hearted something, Yao's hand went up to his ear and he hissed something into the communicator in his watch. His eyes locked onto the figure getting out of the limousine, chatting loudly with the people accompanying him.

"That's my little cousin right there." Yao said, his voice emotionless.

Gilbert didn't need to be told. He could see Im Yong Soo's flashy, spiked hair well enough. Despite his brash demeanor, the man seemed rather agitated. And the words he said to the people beside him as he passed by where Gilbert was standing, assured the reason for that.

"—find playthings for him by tomorrow! Can't believe you haven't-"

"Perfect." Yao's lips pursed grimly and he clicked on his communicator. "Roderich. Feliks. You're on." His black eyes were still on Im Yong Soo's back, even after he had entered the shady-looking building.

"Like, got it."

"Understood."

Gilbert jumped at hearing Roderich's voice so suddenly.

"No sign of any of Braginski's men here, by the way." Feliks informed. "Roderich, you have a jerk heading your way. Get him off your tail."

"Do not worry." Roderich said, and Gilbert could positively hear the smile in his voice, and the low wolf-whistle from whoever was approaching him.

"Gilbert!" Yao barked sternly. His hand clutched onto Gilbert's coat, and Gilbert realized that he had begun moving forward. "I knew this was a bad idea! I you can't control youself then you should have sat this one out!"

"Me?" Gilbert snarled, throwing Yao's hand off him. "Roddy just woke up from a day-long coma! He shouldn't even be here!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Yao exclaimed. "You're supposed to head towards the ladies's section!"

"A tiny change of plans never hurt anyon—"

"And how do you expect to act interested in men?" Yao questioned sardonically. "I have personally read your file and I know your preferences—"

"Preferences can change." Gilbert said, thinking about Roderich's lips. "I'm sure I'll find something to amuse myself."

He dodged Yao's grab for him and rushed towards the door Im Yong Soo had disappeared through.

The inside looked classy despite the gaudy exterior of the building. Through the thump of the music and the blinding lights, Gilbert had no idea what was going on. He caught glimpses of people in different positions in the corners of the room, bliss and drug addled expressions on their faces. He saw flashed of a man on his knees, of a hand clawing down a man's biceps… and gulped, blindly looking around for Roderich. Like a godsend, Feliks sidled up to him with an elegant class of champagne.

"Chill. He's so in control of the situation." the blonde muttered, looking sideways at something.

Gilbert turned fast to see Roderich being pushing up against a wall by the well-built, handsome looking man he was busy charming.

"Is that so sweety? Well, I definitely like the canons you've got…" came the familiar voice over the communicator. But it sounded so different somehow, so… shallow. Gilbert raised an eyebrow when Roderich leaned forward and nipped the man's ear. He couldn't quite control the sudden flow of acid churning in his stomach.

"Easy Gilbert." Feliks warned as his hand clenched into a tight fist at his side.

"Oh, for heaven's sake…" he heard Yao muttering. "Feliks, go help him."

The arshlo- man looked rather happy with two sexy partners on either arm. Roderich's smile was fake, Gilbert could tell… but it just suited his face so well. Surely nobody could resist it? Looking around, he saw that he was right. Im Yong Soo's men were busy snapping shots of them.

One of them approached Feliks and whispered something into his ear, slipping a bank check into his belt gesturing vaguely at Roderich. Feliks gave him a disinterested look at first then pretended to check the price on the check. He winked at the man.

"Game's in the bag." he whispered, once the man had moved away. "Let's like, get outta here."

Gilbert completely agreed with that sentiment. Feliks slowly slid away, but Roderich seemed to be having some problems disengaging with his burly "date".

"I kinda have to go now. But I swear that I'll be back in five." he was saying, struggling with the man's fingers trying to reach under his shirt. The way his jaw was tense, Gilbert could tell that he was seconds away from grabbing a blade and slitting the unsuspecting man into strips.

"C'mon!" the man was saying, now grabbing at Roderich hair. His hair—Gott the man was so dead. "What could be so important that you have to leave my side?"

"Unfortunately for you, mein freund…" said Gilbert, deciding to intervene. He pushed up behind Roderich, one hand went under Roderich's shirt up to his chest and another slipped underneath Roderich's jeans. He felt Roderich's body jolt in his arms and felt a thrill go right through his own body. "He has a paid appointment with me tonight. You can have him after that. I just hope that you don't have a problem with… spoilt goods."

His eyes were burning threateningly at the man. Without looking away, Gilbert tilted his head and sunk his teeth into Roderich's neck for good measure. The man glowered and slipped away grouchily at the display. Roderich shifted slightly in his hold.

His soft hands were on Gilbert's arms as they held him. "Erm…. Thank you." he said shakily. "You c-can let go now."

Gilbert pulled his hand out of the compromising places and flipped Roderich around to see vivid cherry cheeks. "Are you alright." he asked firmly.

Roderich's beautiful eyes looked like they wanted to say something, but all he did was nod. "I am not fragile, Gilbert."

"Ja, excuse me for only just finding out about your harder side." Gilbert said, suddenly angry. "You looked like you could do this for a living! Gott, is this why Liz left you?"

Roderich's eyes flashed. "What is that supposed to mean? I thought you knew what tonight's mission entailed! Since you are the one who so easily pointed out that I was dressed like a 'man-whore'!"

"But that's… just not right!"

"Well excuse me for hurting you delicate sensibilities!" Roderich snapped. "I do not see you lecturing Feliks about this!"

"That's different!" said Gilbert, his hand clutching onto Roderich's wrist. He didn't know why, but it was different. Roderich just wasn't suited for this stuff. It was enraging to see just how exactly accurate his wet-dreams had been. "You're not like this!"

"Who are you to decide that?" Roderich asked, lowering his voice to a snarl after a random blue haired man turned at their loud voices.

"For Gott's sake, I like you! Of course I don't wanna see you whoring yourself out to people like this!" Gilbert hoped that Roderich wouldn't notice the amount of feeling and emphasis he had put on the word 'like'.

Roderich's eyes were as large as saucers, then he coughed gently. "It was just harmless flirti—acting. Can I not be good at that?" He asked, but then looked away.

Gilbert grabbed his face and turned it back towards him. It was then that he noticed that Roderich's gloss was smeared all over his lips. Gilbert felt an angry growl rip through his chest at the sight.

"Ja Roddy… You're real good at it." He scoffed. "Next time I won't bother saving you from getting raped then!"

"I can protect myself! It is not like I wanted it! Circumstances force people to do things they would rather not otherwise!" Roderich said through clenched teeth. "In any case, you are the one who accosted me!"

That much was true. Roderich's neck was still slightly red from where Gilbert had bitten him lightly. He willed his mind (fruitlessly) not to think thoughts of him marking Roderich's pale skin.

Gilbert ignored the heat rising up his shoulder blades and managed an incredulous splutter. "Me? I was doing what was necessary to get you out of this mess!"

A twinge of hurt seemed to pass across violet orbs. "You mean to say, that everything you did was for—"

"Enough! We are still undercover you idiots!" yelled Yao's voice. "Outside now! Our black car waiting at the gates."

Without another word, Gilbert pulled Roderich close to his side and strode out of the depraved place.

.

---

.

---

.

Im Yong Soo sighed. Then he cursed under his breath. Then he sighed again.

Of course he had seen his elder brother that night. No stupid disguise could hide the face he'd grown up admiring all those years.

He'd known for a while now that he was in some deep shit with Braginski. What he hadn't known was that Yao had gotten involved in it as well.

The Lithuanian man whom the evil jerk-off had hired was sitting beside him, ruffling through the pictures of possible distractions for tomorrow night's party. Braginski himself had sent the Lithuanian man here to verify the boys.

He kept coming back to one picture all too often, and Yong Soo finally lost his five minute-long patience.

"What is it, da ze?" Yong Soo hadn't even bothered to learn the man's name.

The man seemed to have a preordained nervous disposition, because he fumbled with the photo in his hand and it fluttered to the floor. Yong Soo caught a glimpse of short blonde hair and a sultry smile.

"Its… er, it's nothing." the Lithuanian man stuttered. "Just… Braginski doesn't prefer blonds very much."

His fingers lowered to retrieve the photo back from the floor and he gazed at it thoughtfully. To tell the truth, Yong Soo knew quite well what type of men Braginski liked. Types like his brother actually. If he had wanted to, Yong Soo could have asked his men to abduct Yao last night… and possibly killed him off. Nobody would have been able to save him and his men would never question his loyalty again. Tempting… But Yong Soo still had some semblance of humanity left in him, unlike the blood-thirsty psychopath who had employed him.

"So what, we'll just send him away tomorrow when he gets here-"

"No!" cried the Lithuanian, his hand now clutching the blonde's picture tightly in his hand. Yong Soo stared. That was the highest decibel the brown-haired man's voice had uttered so far in their conversation. "I'm sorry, I—"

"Do you want him?" asked Yong Soo incredulously. "I thought you had a thing for Braginski's murderous sis, da ze!"

The Lithuanian flushed. Yong Soo wondered whether it was because he had mentioned the silverette or because his assumption had been right.

"I… I think I knew him. This man…" he said. "From a long time ago, when we were kids maybe. I can't remember anything."

Yong Soo shrugged. "Fine, da ze." he said. "But if something goes wrong at the party tonight, then your head be it."

The Lithuanian man nodded nervously as Yong Soo rose to check on the preparations for the night's fete. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the Lithuanian man brushing his lips against the photo in his hand.

---

.

The party was not something which could be called 'elegant' at all. The whole place was crowded. The air-conditioners were on at full blast but they didn't do much for the stifling heat inside. There was a throng of bodies moving as one on the dance floor. Skins were touching, hips were brushing and tongues were melding in the semi-darkness. The smell of musk and sex was mixing with the perfume spraying out over the crowd every few minutes. A cheer went up as the DJ began to play a popular, up-beat song.

Multicolored lights were swiveling around in time with the music and Gilbert had already taken off his suit and undone the first three buttons on his scarlet, sleeveless shirt. He was flushed red with the heat and his eyes were following Im Yong Soo, who was downing bottle after bottle of strong beer into his system and laughing rowdily with his friends. Women were walking around scantily clad in string dresses, several of them turning interested heads Gilbert's way as he stood at the bar. But he ignored them, focusing solely on the mission.

Yeah right! Gilbert's eyes kept flashing back to a pair dancing in the middle of the dancefloor. The moment they had entered, Feliks had pulled Roderich away to 'teach him how to dance'. The tactic seemed to be effective as the couple was attracting the attention of the sick and twisted minds of the crimelords, but they were also getting jealous glares from the women present.

It was annoying. Gilbert and Roderich had barely spoken two words after their argument at the bar. Gilbert just didn't have it in him to apologize. He couldn't exactly tell Roderich that in truth, he wanted so badly to fuck him against the closest wall. His mind was currently supplying him helpfully with more perverted images of his fantasies. The clothes Roderich had on today were even worse than the ones he had be wearing the last time.

Fritz, who was looking every-much like the gentile party-goer he had dressed up to be, slid onto a stool beside Gilbert. "Two bottles of beer please." he told the robotic barmaid who smiled at them.

"How're things goin'?" asked Gilbert.

Fritz gave a drowsy shake of his head, pretending to be drunk. "The toilets are all occupied, and not because people are using them, if you know what I mean."

Braginski's limousine is downstairs. Gilbert translated.

"Gilbert, you have to blend in more." said Yao's voice. "A normal man would have picked up one of the girls by now… Don't attract too much attention."

"Hey, hey, Bert!" said Fritz, using language he would never use in real life. Gilbert tried hard not to laugh. "That hottie over there is definitely checking you out!"

Gilbert looked at the woman blatantly staring at him, and gave her a mischievous grin. Her string dress left little room for Gilbert's imagination, and she smirked as she approached him, pulled herself close against Gilbert's body.

"Nice look." she purred. "I like the mix of black, red and white… and I really love boys with dyed hair."

Her hands were roaming already and getting quite close to Gilbert's tear-gas cans. He grabbed them and raised the knuckles to his mouth, sliding her long, manicured fingernails against his lips. "I appreciate the compliment." he said in a low voice. "But I'll have you know that I'm no boy."

The woman's breath stuttered when Gilbert pushed his hips against hers.

"Ask her to dance." commanded Yao in his ear.

Honestly, sometimes (actually, it was most of the time), Gilbert didn't feel like he was the Team Leader at all…

"Wanna dance?" he asked the woman, who happily obliged.

Dancing with her was nothing like how it used to be with women before. She was beautiful, but Gilbert eyes kept roaming over to where Feliks was shimming his hips into Roderich's, and the way Roderich's body was swaying to thump of the music, following the beat and rhythm as if it were part of his soul, his expression just like it had been when he had played his piano.

By the time Gilbert had untangled himself from the woman's clawing hands, he was sweating profusely. Gilbert wiped wetness off his neck and forehead as he walked back to the bar from where Fritz was staring fixedly at the crowd. "Hey, bro." Gilbert said, taking back his former seat beside the man.

Fritz nodded, without taking his eyes off whoever he was looking at. Following his line of vision, Gilbert found a clear view of two lean figures. Feliks had his hands on Roderich's hips and seemed to be instructing the Austrian how to gyrate his body.

"Those two are doing pretty well." remarked Fritz sarcastically. "Even I never thought that Agent Roderich would be capable of doing something so… degrading."

"Shut up!" snarled Gilbert suddenly, wondering when and why he had gotten to his feet. It was a hypocritical defense after all… he had pretty much accused Roderich of the same sort of indecency.

Fritz jolted. "You are right of course. It was careless… Someone could have overheard." Gilbert sat back down and grumbled in affirmative, glad that Fritz had misunderstood his exclamation.

And then, his blood froze.

Ivan Braginski had just walked into the room, and the temperature semmed to go down several degrees. Now this was the man who Gilbert remembered, not the childish looking man with cold eyes he had seen in the video from India. This Braginski was wearing a smile, the same one he used when he had advanced to torture Gilbert with those knives and molten wires, day after day… Yet when their eyes met, Braginski gave him a brief stare then looked away as thought he did not remember ever seeing the man. Gilbert shook his head.

"Subject just walked in. Status report." said Roderich's voice through the small speaker in his ear.

"He doesn't recognize me." Gilbert said confusedly.

There was a pause. Then, Yao's voice spoke. "Continue on with plan then. This might not be the Braginski you knew Gilbert."

But it was! Gilbert was so sure. The vicar-like jacket was now taken off and Braginski stood with the Koreans, drinking a glass of vodka, with a mechanical grin on his face. There was an unmistakable look in his eyes as he stared at something through the crowd. The muscles on his large arms flexed as he shook hands with other people, the collar of his buttonless shirt turned up. His heliotrophe eyes were fixing someone in the crowd with a hungry smile, before he looked away disappointedly.

"Roderich, he was watching you." Gilbert heard Yao's voice quake as it addressed Roderich. "Try mixing with some… I don't know, bigger men!"

"Not likely. Everyone here looks like they eat steel rods for breakfast." Gilbert smirked when he heard Roderich's mumble as he moved away from Feliks. He walked towards the circular bar and sat down on a stool near Gilbert and Fritz, trying to attract the attention of the barmaid who was busy on another side.

"Gilbert or Frederick then." said Yao's voice adamantly. "Get in there."

Gilbert turned to Fritz, who gave him a look that spoke millions. Sighing, he absentmindedly brushed a hand through his hair and looked to where Roderich was watching the Feliks chat someone up, a small grin on his face. He found himself standing up. Walking over to the Austrian, Gilbert didn't know what came over him when he put the rim of the beer bottle he'd been drinking from against Roderich's lips and tipped it up. Roderich eyes widened and he stared at Gilbert for a second before raising an eyebrow. Gilbert was surprised when the Austrian's hand clutched onto the bottle and he started drinking deeply from it, his eyes closed. Gilbert watched mesmerized as Roderich's adam's apple bobbed up and down his pale throat as he drank. He was done, his eyelids fluttered open and he put the empty bottle away, swaying slightly. Gilbert grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

"You didn't have to drink all that." Gilbert told him.

"Gott no, I was parched!" he said, blinking up at Gilbert through long eyelashes. "Besides, you expected me to completely back off, did you not? I will not lose. Not tonight." Roderich's eyes were blazing for some reason.

Gilbert felt a grin tug at the corner of his mouth, their former argument forgotten completely. "Is that so Little Master? Tell me, why's tonight so special?"

Roderich picked up another beer from the counter and uncapped it with an automatized bottle-opener. "I do not know." He said after taking another long draft. "It just seems like the type of night to let all our inhibitions go, does it not?"

Gilbert couldn't understand how the brunette could make the simple act of wiping his mouth with the back of his hand look like it was part of a sensual ballet.

"Verdammt , I think my lip gloss came off." Roderich said, looking at his hand. He then wiped away the rest of the sparkling gel, his lips turning red from the friction.

Gilbert spotted a smudge of glitter which Roderich had missed. It was situated around the small mole on his cheek. "You've got some left… over there." Gilbert told Roderich, pointing at his own face.

Roderich hand hurriedly wiped the cheek, but on the opposite side.

"No… here." Gilbert stepped closer to Roderich as his thumb found itself on the man's soft cheek as the rest of his fingers curled around Roderich's jaw, tilting his head up. He rubbed his thumb over the smudge to clean it off, feeling the slightly raised skin of the beauty spot under his finger. Roderich shuddered. Gilbert wrenched his hand away. "I'm sor-"

"It is not you." murmured Roderich, his eyes looking away from Gilbert, suddenly shy. "I am quite sensitive… around that area."

"Oh." Gilbert felt a tingle in his fingers. It had been a shudder of pleasure! Hadn't it? Gilbert watched the man again. A bead of sweat was gliding over Roderich's collarbone. Gilbert wanted to lick it.

He internally facepalmed at his own thoughts when he heard Yao cough uncomfortably through the communicator.

I need another beer. But before Gilbert could move away, Roderich's hand was on his arm. He was looking at Gilbert, a completely open expression on his gorgeous features. "I know that we have only just met… and I am not very good at dancing. But this nice man was teaching me and –" No! Gilbert thought. Was Roderich really asking him to-? An elegant hand appeared in front of Gilbert. "Would you like to go and dance?"

Gilbert automatically took the pale hand in his, and by Gott! The thin fingers felt wonderful against his own. Roderich smiled and turned towards the crowd, but Gilbert jerked back his arm. The brunette slammed back against him.

"Why are you doing this?" Gilbert asked, wondering on this change in Roderich's personality. Gilbert felt his breath coming a little faster at their close distance.

Roderich's eyes were bright under his thick, long lashes. "I am letting go... We all know that if I want to get his attention, I have to change my style. If pushing myself to the limit is what is takes, then so be it."

Gilbert felt angered suddenly. "Priss." He said in undertone. "You really don't have to do—"

He was cut off when Roderich used two fingers to squeeze his lips shut together. Gilbert could feel Roderich's hot breath on his face when he spoke. "Yes I do. We have to do this!" the Austrian said forcefully. "I need your help, Gilbert. Do not forget. The mission is at skate. Besides, I have to prove to you that I am not as 'stuck-up' as you insist on believing!"

Believe me, I stopped thinking of you as stuck-up a long… long time ago.

"…But, it's been a while. I require someone to push me a little. I have to admit Gilbert, you are the only one who can bring out the worst in me right now." he finished matter-of-factly, the edges of his lips tilting up.

Gilbert shook his head. "Whoa, hold on Priss. Tell me if I'm getting this right. You want me to help you come out of your little hermit crab shell?"

Roderich brow twitched in anger. "Well, you usually seem quite eager to test me all the time. But if you do not feel like it tonight, then just say so. I can go find someone else. I am very good remember? Easily promiscuous?"

Gilbert growled and tightened his hold on Roderich when he tried to twist away. Along with the heat pooling in his stomach, Gilbert felt a smirk pull at his face. "Is that so? No need to find anyone Prinzessin. Awesome Me is willing to experiment with whatever you want tonight. Just lead the way! But I have to warn you… " Gilbert voice became unusually gruff when he remembered exactly who was in the room and who Roderich was dancing for. "Once I start, I won't stop no matter what you say. So… what will it be Roddy? You up for it?"

The brunette faltered a little at the seriousness of Gilbert's words, but recovered swiftly. "Fine with me… as long as you can keep up."

Before he could move away, Gilbert slid an arm around Roderich's waist and pulled the brunette flush against his side as they began to walk towards where the music was flowing. Roderich had removed his translucent jacket. With all the petal-shaped holes on his top, Gilbert's arm felt like basically resting on the small of Roderich's back, right on top of heated skin, and he could feel the muscles tense where he was touching.

"What's the matter, Priss?" Gilbert asked, putting his lips close to Roderich's ear. "Too much already?"

Roderich eyes flashed to his, a defiant expression on his face. "Not at all, Gilbert." They had reached the oval dance area now, Roderich turned to face Gilbert with a teasing grin and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am simply waiting for the right time to wipe that arrogant smirk off your face."

Gilbert threw his head back in laughter. There was no way he was losing to Roderich after that! A percussion filled music was playing. Gilbert put both hands on Roderich's waist, moving his body to the drumbeats. The Austrian was moving his shoulders. His hand slid down from Gilbert's shoulder and onto his chest, resting over Gilbert's heart. Gilbert felt a jolt of something go through him at the touch. His hands tightened on Roderich hips and his pulled them roughly against his own, his grin broadening when Roderich let out a gasp.

"Roderich." said Yao's voice. "Braginski's been staring at you for a while now."

Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, Gilbert saw with a faint snarl that Yao was right. Ivan Braginski was staring at Roderich like he was some delicious piece of cake. Getting up from his seat, Braginski grabbed the shoulder of a brunette next to him and was pointing in their general direction, a terrifyingly pleased expression on his face.

Gilbert felt Roderich trying to slip away from his hold and felt another low roar rip through his throat. Roderich stared at him wild-eyed when he was pulled back roughly to Gilbert's chest. Gott, this really was the first time he had felt something like this for a man! Gilbert knew that if he let go now, then something terrible would happen, something horrible which he didn't want to think about.

"Gilbert?" Roderich said uncertainly, his arms automatically coming around Gilbert's shoulders. "What is it?"

The moment felt too right, and Gilbert didn't have the heart to break it. He wanted time to freeze them as they were, intertwined with each other… but Roderich was watching him insistently, his gaze questioning. So instead, Gilbert shook his head and put his head on Roderich's shoulder and pleaded. "Don't do this. Something's not right, I know it—"

Gilbert felt Roderich arms tighten around him, and a shaking voice responded. "Do not be like that Gilbert."

Gilbert closed his eyes and inhaled the rich, pure scent of Roderich's magnificent body. "This is dangerous…" he said.

Roderich lashed out immediately. "Don't belittle me Gilbert, I have told you that I am capabl—"

Gilbert let out a slow chuckle. Opening his eyes, he pulled his head back a few centimeters, just enough to look into Roderich's eyes. "I know that. I just don't want to lose you—your friendship. We are friends by now, right Priss?"

Roderich gave a low sigh, and put a hand on Gilbert's neck, playing with the hairs there. "At times like this… when you say those things- It almost makes me think that you…"

"That I what?" Gilbert prodded inquisitively.

"I am… scared of what will happen. If something goes wrong."

Gilbert didn't get if Roderich was talking about the mission, or something else. Deciding that it had been the former, he let out a half-scoff. "Well, the world will be pulverized for one thing—"

"No." Roderich voice grew slightly frantic and he looked deep into Gilbert's eyes. "I meant that— I am sorry Gilbert, but Gott help me… I cannot stop worrying about what will happen to– to you!"

"…What?" Gilbert's voice was less than a breath. It was a simple enough concern, but the way Roderich voiced it, it had seemed more meaningful… more— indecent.

"T-that came out wrong." said Roderich, looking rather flustered. "I meant it in a friendly wa— We are friends now, like you said. And as such, I just want you to promise me that you will be safe and—"

"Priss." Gilbert's heart was galloping like a stallion, hammering against his chest. A faint ringing was echoing in his ears. "If I do something right now… can you promise me that you won't kill me later?"

"Wha—"

And without giving the Austrian a chance to respond, Gilbert put his hand on Roderich's heated cheek and slammed their lips together. His first kiss with a man. If only Francis and Antonio could see me now… and perhaps Elizabeta's shocked face would be welcome. Gilbert mused, as his lips molded to Roderich's, their breaths mingling as Gilbert drew Roderich closer to him. At the same time, the kiss felt very, very different because this was Roderich he was kissing, for crying out loud!

Gilbert knew that he would have to face the consequences of his actions later on. But he couldn't not have done it… If something did happen, if he did… die, then Gilbert didn't want to regret anything in his life before leaving. And not kissing Roderich's wonderful, soft lips would definitely have been very regretful.

It didn't matter if Roderich hated him after this. Well, it did, but Gilbert knew that somehow he would be able to turn the whole thing around. Make it out to be a joke, and everything would be fine again.

As he made to pull away, mentally preparing for the slap which was sure to come, Gilbert felt Roderich's fingers, which had been limp on his neck suddenly latch onto his hair. Their lips had just separated a hair's-breadth before Roderich pulled him back into the kiss, opening his mouth with a moan and allowing Gilbert's tongue to enter and play with his own.

If Gilbert's brain could short-circuit, then it probably did right then. Nothing else mattered anymore. For a while, Gilbert forgot where he was and lost himself among the sweating bodies around him, only feeling the sweet, indescribable creature that was Roderich… Just Roderich. His hand lowered itself to touch Roderich's pert ass, and another cupped Roderich's cheek lovingly. Roderich's hand roamed over the taunt muscles of his shoulders. Gilbert had just begun to think again of the many indecent things he could do to the body in front of him, all so very wrong in their present situation- But then his thoughts flew out of the window once more as Roderich's hips came into contact with his highly interested crotch area. He groaned in pleasure, breaking the seal his lips had made with Roderich's. The brunette was flushed, breathing rapidly, his orchid eyes glazed and slightly damp as they watched Gilbert.

Gilbert hardwired the image to his mind and touched Roderich's slightly wet, red lips with his thumb. As he ran his finger over the swollen flesh, Roderich shivered violently, his fingers digging into Gilbert's back and neck. Gilbert let out a possessive huff and bent in for a swift kiss, then another, and another… because Roderich was too adorable to resist.

The static on their coms came as a splash of cold water, as Yao's voice sounded. "Gilbert, move away now."

Gilbert swallowed and opened his mouth to reply a negative. But Roderich sucked his lower lip in and pushed himself away. "Go now, we have work to do."

And Gilbert felt something break inside him when he saw Roderich's unsure, unguarded expression. No! He didn't think that this was part of their act, did he? "Roddy, I wanna tell you—"

"Later." Roderich insisted, turning away swiftly. "T-tell me later… See you around handsome!" he said more loudly, in a fake-voice as people turned towards them.

"Rode—"

But the brunette had already disappeared into the throng of dancers, leaving Gilbert standing there alone. Where did that leave them?

"Gilbe—"

"I fucking heard you the first time!"

Gilbert trudged back towards the bar, his hand on the back of his neck where Roderich's fingers had been only seconds before. Suddenly, he felt eyes boring into the back of his head. Turning around towards the black sofas where the Russian crime ring had been seated, Gilbert's eyes widened when he found Braginski staring at him with a thoughtful look on his face, before he looked away, sneering.

The Russian was laughing with the plain-faced young man who had shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes, and gesturing to someone in the crowd as he spoke to Im Yong Soo.

"Isn't that the Lithuanian guy? Ivan's tactician?" Gilbert asked, moving his lips the least he could, his heart still beating quite fast in his chest.

"Yes." came Roderich's reply, making Gilbert's eyes snap up, looking for a sign of the brunette in the veritable mob but to no avail. "Although, he does not seem to be too much of a captive. Perhaps he has those affections for Natalya as well..."

"Speaking of Natalya." interjected Felik's voice. "Like where is that girl?"

Gilbert paused, then hastened to look around to check if he had missed someone or not. Right at that moment, Im Young Soo's energetic voice pounded into his left ear.

"Annyeong!" the Korean was saying to Feliks. "Ivan wants to know if you're into brunettes, daze!"

Gilbert had to admit that he had never thought that the Polish could be as professional as he was being now. "Excuse me, but like… who the heck are you?" he said, checking his nails.

"This is my party, daze!" protested Im Yong Soo, looking offended. "How could you not know who I am?"

"Sorry." said Feliks, not a care in the world. Gilbert saw him look at Braginski's direction and give a sniff. "The brunette… is that him?" he asked, jerking his head towards the Lithuanian man.

"Ye!" Im Yong Soo replied energetically.

"I don't know who he is." Feliks's hair, shining like the sun, rippled as he flicked it with a gloved finger. "And frankly, I don't care."

Gilbert sniggered. He wanted to applaud as he watched Feliks stalk away. Im Yong Soo stared at him as he left, turning to Braginski with fear in his eyes. But Braginski looked satisfied, and whispered something into the Lithuanian man's ear, who like Yong Soo was gaping at Feliks's back.

That's when Gilbert felt something sharp poke into his back. "Gilbert Beilschmidt…" said a dangerous, heavily accented voice, which he still sometimes heard in his nightmares. "It's been quite a while."

Gilbert bowed his head, cursing his own stupidity. "Are those standardized titanium F1167 blades in your hand? Or are you just happy to see me?" Gilbert said, his voice like ice. Flicking his wrist, he felt his own knife protrude out of his silk armband to his palm and he turned quickly, placing the hand on Natalya Arlovskaya's hip so that his own blade dug into her skin.

Natalya had three blades between her fingers, hidden from the crowd by the fluttery yet revealing blue dress she was wearing. Her Mary Janes and black stockings gave her a rather stylish look and she had her usual bow placed on top of her straight, platinum blonde hair. Her dark blue eyes however, were glinting.

"I need your help." she said in a choked voice, her eyes darting around the room.

Gilbert chuckled darkly. "You're twisted in the head as well! What makes you think that after all the suffering you brothe—"

"It wasn't him." Natalya snarled, he accent even more evident. "Vanya never touched you!"

"What the fuck are you talking about." said Gilbert, tightening his grasp on her hip so that the blade on his palm tore through her clothes into her side.

"It was me." she said. "Vanya told me to deal with the prisoners so I programmed the robot. It was his instructions, but he never did anything."

"What? I—"

But Natalya shook her head, her eyes flashing around again. "That thing… is not my brother." she said, jerking her head towards the throng of people. "Vanya reprogrammed it to take care of his affairs here, because he wanted to go looking for our dear elder sister in Canada." She spat the word 'sister' as though it was something vile and disgusting.

"That's why it doesn't remember me!" Gilbert exclaimed suddenly.

Natalya shuddered. "It's not an it… it is a 'he'."

"Well, well. Giving it a nice personality I see—"

"No, you don't get it." Natalya insisted adamantly. "It's a he!"

"Make your mind up, you ugly harpy." Gilbert frowned. "I thought that you didn't like it."

"I don't!" Natalya snapped, retracting her blades back into the long sleeves of her dress. "But that thing has a mind of its own now, and that should be clear to us all. I don't know what went wrong in the programming, but that thing is… awake."

"And hell-bent on destroying the world it seems." added Gilbert.

Natalya clutched at his collar. "You have to help me." she said menacingly.

Gilbert's hand moved to her lower back, knife still pressing into her skin. "Tell me what the yellow chemical does."

"I don't know… I really don't!" Natalya growled when Gilbert gave her a disbelieving look. "He keeps torturing that boy Raivis and the Estonian boy for information. They're kept in our cells, away from the rest of the family. Nobody knows what they're up to! But he seems to like the Lithuanian for some reason."

"Tell me more." Gilbert ordered.

"Not here. I can't." said Natalya, breaking away easily from his clutch. "You have to get me out of here. With the Lithuanian. He knows about everything."

"Does he know the location of the factory?" asked Gilbert. Natalya hesitated, before giving a curt nod.

"If you're lying then I swear I'll hack your pretty head off." Gilbert promised. "Now, how do we get him out?"

The blonde girl stared at him as though he were stupid. "I'll fight with you, of course. How many agents do you have in this room?"

"Tell her Gilbert." Yao's voice told him. "We might as well use her, she's vital to this mission."

"Four." replied Gilbert, fighting over whether trusting the bitch was a smart move or not.

"That golden-haired girl— no, he is a man... Is he with you?" she asked, nodding towards somewhere on the dance floor.

"Ja." said Gilbert.

"Getting the Lithuanian will be easy then."

Gilbert pointed threateningly pointed a finger at her. "I repeat, you better not be lying about any of this. We have your real brother in custody so if anything goes wrong, you can be sure that my team will make sure that he doesn't make it back to Eurasia in one piece."

"Understood." Natalya snapped angrily.

"You team is awaiting your signal." Yao's voice said in his ear.

Then, another voice sounded in his left ear through the com. It was a smooth, cruel, enticing voice. A voice Gilbert knew quite well. Something he hadn't heard for over four years. Gilbert hurled himself around and his eyes searched through the crowd until he spotted Braginski's large figure, hovering over Roderich.

"Privet." the man's surprisingly soothing voice was saying to Roderich.

"Good eve'." the Austrian replied. There was a playful smile on his face.

Braginski chuckled, then unexpectedly swooped down, capturing Roderich's lips in a kiss. Gilbert saw vivid red and his hands curled into fists. Natalya, obviously having noticed his rage, discreetly grabbed onto the back of his shirt tightly, keeping him where he was. Roderich flushed immediately at the kiss, and threw his elegant fingers over his lips. Braginski stared at him hungrily.

"That's how we say hello in my Eurasian hometown, in Russia." said Braginski, his arm curling around Roderich's waist. "I have heard… that it is how you say goodbye in Austria?"

Gilbert felt something drop to the pit of his stomach. "Yao," he muttered frantically. "How does it know where Roderich's from?"

"I'm working on it!" came Yao's equally anxious reply. "But don't do anything reckless Gilbert!"

"You don't expect me to just—"

"We don't know what it wants, Team Leader! If you blow his cover, the Braginski might kill him." said Fritz's voice. Gilbert stayed where he was upon hearing that, but he couldn't help but slam his fist on the glass surface of the bar in frustration, cracking it with the force he used.

"Ah." Roderich was saying, an eyebrow raised and a hesitant smile on his lips. If he was scared or surprised that Ivan Braginski knew where he came from, he didn't show it. "Well, we say 'Hallo' as greeting, but you are right… we save the kissing for later."

By then, Braginski's hands had followed his eyes and were roaming all over Roderich's body, under the brunette's shirt, dipping into his tight shorts, clutching at his hips. Nobody around them noticed anything, and if they did, nobody said a word. Roderich stood his ground, his hands braced on Braginski's large arms, his eyes meeting Braginski's defiantly. But he quivered whenever the big hands moved across his skin.

Braginski pulled Roderich close to him. "You're… different." he said as his fingers rose to caress Roderich's cheeks, seemingly gently. But Gilbert clenched his jaws and ground his teeth when he remembered exactly what those hands were capable of.

"Yao!" Gilbert muttered dangerously.

"I'm looking into it, Gilbert!" was Yao's agitated answer.

"Thank you for the compliment." Roderich was replying.

Braginski's eyes flashed…literally. Gilbert saw purple lights gleaming briefly on Roderich's face before they disappeared. "Da? How do you know that was a compliment?" his smile intensified the aura of dread which seemed to constantly hang over him.

"I am not stupid, Mr. Braginski." said Roderich with an almost impish look, somehow slipping away from the Russian's strong grasp. "If that was not a compliment, then I would not be standing here alive right now."

Braginski's smile widened further, if that was even possible. He traced the steps Roderich had taken away from him and pulled the brunette close again. "You are clever… and interesting."

"…I hope that's not another agent of yours." Natalya told Gilbert in a low voice.

"Why not?" asked Gilbert, internally dreading the answer.

"Because I think that 'it' really likes him."

"What'da ya mean 'likes him'?" snapped Gilbert. "It's a fucking robot—"

"Haven't you been listening to what I said?" said Natalya in an exasperated voice. "That thing is awake! It feels things the way Vanya does, it even likes the same things! It has human emotions: greed, hunger, lust, passion, desire…"

As though to prove what she was saying, Braginski chose that moment to speak. "You're coming with me to my fortress, da? You'll go with me?" his hands were clasped around Roderich's wrists, and Gilbert could tell though the brunette's wince that this time, that the touch was painful. Gilbert had never felt so useless in his whole life. He was just standing there, unable to do anything to help Roderich, in fear of making everything worse.

Roderich somehow managed to slip one of his hands out of Braginski's hand again. He brushed his hair behind his ear, but along with the gesture, Gilbert heard a crackling of static in his ear.

"Wha- Ai ya! Why's Roderich's receiver down?" Yao questioned confusedly.

And Gilbert suddenly knew what Roderich was planning to do. He made to jump away from the bar into the crowd of dancers, but he froze when Roderich's eyes met with his own from the distance. The brunette was smiling at him sadly. The speaker on Roderich's shirt button was obviously still working because Gilbert heard him clearly when he said. "Only if you promise to dance the tango with me all night."

NO! Even Fritz cursed. Roderich had said the code words.

His hand went behind his back, out of Braginski's eyesight. There was a flicker of silver in the air before the thick wire holding up the large, spinning disco ball was sliced by Roderich's blade and the spherical structure came crashing to the floor, shattering into a million pieces.

Then, all hell broke loose as Gilbert's team flew in through the doors and glass windows at the signal words which Roderich had uttered, firing shots at the panicking, screaming crowd of mobsters. Shards of glass flew everywhere and Gilbert's way to Roderich was blocked completely as people began to push each other to get away. Braginski touched a side of Roderich's neck and squeezed as the brunette fell limp in his arms, then pulled him up to his broad chest and disappeared into the smoke from one of the gas grenades someone had thrown.

"NO!" yelled Gilbert, but someone grabbed hold of his shirt and shoved him backwards to the bar. Gilbert grabbed a bottle of cognac lying on top of the cracked surface, and smashed it over his assailant's head.

"Beilschmidt!" Natalya's yell broke Gilbert out of his shocked state and he managed to duck in time to avoid a slicer knife flying straight for his neck. It was time to be professional now. He pulled out his semi-automatic and shot the attacker who had thrown the knife at him straight through the head.

Feliks seemed to be fending for himself rather well. He was firing his mini machine-gun at his assailants, spinning around like a top to shoot the men coming at him from all directions. As for anyone who got close enough to him, Feliks simply touched them with his ungloved hand and they seemed to be falling to his feet like flies.

"Team Leader!" it was Fritz's voice this time, he was fighting against a large man. "Get her out of here!" he motioned towards Natalya. "Mr. Feliks, that goes for you and the Lithuanian as well!"

"What about Roderich?!" asked Gilbert, managing to shoot the man wrestling with Fritz on the knee.

"Go now!"

From a distance, Gilbert saw Feliks heaving the Lithuanian man who was lying between his feet by the waist. He slammed something on his side and the thrusters on his feet, back and hips whirred to life, burning away holes on his clothes as he rose into the air.

"I'm like getting outta here with Liet!" he yelled at Gilbert. A mechanic exoskeleton was inching up Feliks's body from his belt in order to help him support Tolys Laurinaitis's heavier mass.

Gilbert nodded and slammed his own thrusters into motion, flailing slightly to steady himself as he floated. He looked towards Natalya who was fighting… everyone at one. It seemed that they were unsure whose side she was on. Catching his eye, Natalya nodded once, and ran towards the broken window, jumping out without a single move of hesitation. Gilbert cursed and flew out after her, turning on his back midair as he fired off shots at the people following him. Once out of the building, he shot downwards, accelerating when he spotted Natalya's dress which was puffing up with the wind. His hands caught hold of her arms a few inches before she crashed into the roof of the lower building beside Busan Palace.

Spotting Feliks who was a few meters ahead of him, Gilbert bent forwards to gain momentum and catch up.

Suddenly, there was a whistling noise of decrescendo from something flying at him from behind, and Gilbert faltered midair when something hit him on the back of the head. His eyes began to shut close and his grip on Natalya began to loosen as he began to lose altitude.

The only clear thought he had, as he lost consciousness completely, was that he had failed Roderich.

---

.

Apparently, Im Yong Soo was particularly adept at shooting, and he had hit Gilbert with a grenade launcher.

"You should be thanking me for flying back to activate your auto pilot!" Feliks was telling him. "…and it's like, so lucky that Natalya managed to grab you hand controls to stabilize you long enough. Or else you both would have totally died with a splat!"

"I don't care." said Gilbert tonelessly. "That bitch could have impaled herself on something sharp and painful on a roof, for all I care."

"Oh…" Feliks was looking at him with something akin to awe in his eyes. "You like, really mean that."

There was nothing to answer, so Gilbert kept his mouth shut.

"I totally have to admit though, that girl is super freaky." said Feliks shuddering. "I'm open-minded on many things, but what she did was just… wrong. I don't get why Liet likes her."

Gilbert grunted. He assumed that Feliks was referring to the time when Maria had brought the real Ivan into the room, all secured in handcuffs, and the way Natalya had rushed off and tried to kiss him. The real Ivan Braginski, whom Gilbert had apparently never known, had panicked in a distinctly non-Ivanish way and tried to get away from her vice-like grip.

"It is normal for siblings to kiss each other, correct?"

Gilbert clenched his jaw as Roderich's voice reverberated in his brain. This was affecting him too much… Every waking thought in his mind had something to do with the missing Austrian.

Everyone believed that Roderich was probably alive. But as a result, nobody was looking for him. Apparently, they all had more important stuff to deal with. A week had already passed now. After Tolys Laurinaitis had come to consciousness, he seemed very confused about his partnership with Ivan. He remembered helping him, but he didn't remember why he had been doing it.

"It was like… I h-had to." the Lithuanian man had muttered, not as composed as he had been at the party. "I didn't r-remember anyone. My parents, my f-friends … they were all b-been blank from my memory when he was k-keeping me captive. All I k-knew was that I was w-w-working for him."

Yao nodded. "Highly possible." he had said after Feliks had pronounced his words true. "The scans found several unknown toxins in his bloodstream. They could have been used to seal off the memory sectors in his brain and perturb his free thought process."

"Then why's he torturing the other two geniuses, if he can make them work for him with a simple drug?" Natalya had asked, glowering at Tolys hard.

Feliks had narrowed his eyes at that. "Please lady, I'm never wrong. He's telling the truth."

"Umm… Thank you, and I don't claim to know h-how his mind works. But he seems twisted enough to do anything, right?" the man had asked with a slight flush.

"So when we save Roderich, he might not even remember us?" Gilbert asked.

Tolys looked at him. "Perhaps if you can… make him remember someone close to him? I remember getting flashes of one person… someone I cared about for a long time. It helped me break out of whatever it was."

Tolys sounded so broken that they had to believe him. But all that had still been a week ago! And now, Roderich was still not with them.

"We still don't know." Gilbert said suddenly, stopping in his tracks as they finally reached the cell Ivan Braginski was being held in. "He could be torturing Roderich… or worse…" Gilbert's voice quivered.

Feliks gave him a sympathetic look as he swiped his card, and pressed his thumb to the identification pad to pen the thick doors. He had agreed to accompany Gilbert for the questioning to make sure that Braginski was telling the truth.

Gilbert had insisted on being the one to interrogate him. After all, this man hadn't been the one to torture him… which did not mean that he wasn't as crazy as the robot.

Gilbert's eyes found Ivan's purple ones the moment he entered the cell. They were filled with the innocence and the cruelty of a child.

"So." Ivan greeted them. Thick chains pulled down his hands and feet and coiled around his waist. He had been patched up well by Yao, no cuts or injuries visible. "You're the one they call Gibert, da?"

"Shut the fuck up." snarled Gilbert, taking a seat and putting his hands on the table separating them. "Don't act like you knew nothing about what went on in your fortress for over a year."

"I did not."

"He's not telling the truth." Feliks said immediately.

Ivan gave him a long look. "Ahh… A lie-detector?"

"I'm a truth-detector..." Feliks grumbled under his breath. "…why does everybody get it wrong?"

Ivan shook his head at Feliks. "It's funny. They're using you as a human polygraph, da?"

"Shut UP!" shouted Gilbert.

Ivan's frosty eyes found Gilbert again. "Fine, I watched your videos from time to time. But that was a long time ago, back when my replica used to be… amusing."

"What's he planning?" Gilbert questioned.

"I don't know." came the calm response.

"Tell me, verdammt!" Gilbert yelled, slamming his fist onto the table's surface.

"I have no idea—"

"He's telling the truth." Feliks's interrupted quickly.

"Easy there, Gilbert." called Yao's voice through the com in his ear.

Gilbert head slumped into his hands. "Braginski, you know that whatever this chemical attack your doppelganger is planning, it will destroy Canada first." he paused. "Your elder sister? The one you went looking for? She'll die!"

The Russian's expression remained unchanged, but Gilbert saw the smile leave his eyes.

"You have to tell us how to stop him."

"I can't."

Gilbert gnashed his teeth together. "You can't, or you won't?"

"I can't."

"Why the fuck not?" Gilbert felt like he was talking to a non-responsive artificial intelligence system. "Are you sure that you're not the stupid machine, and he is?"

Braginski gave him an incensed glare, the first emotional response Gilbert had ever seen on that baby-face. "My machine double has evolved. Why do you think Natalya got hold of Eduard von Bock, the best software engineer in the world? The Estonian was the one who created it for me. She thought he'd be able to fix it… But in the end, it was too late, it gained too much control over itself. The effects were irreversible."

"That's enough for now Gilbert." said Yao's voice. "We have all the information we need."

"Like hell we have enough!" Gilbert pulled the receiver out of his ear and crushed it in his fingers as a reply. "What do you mean by 'it had gained control'?"

"Power. Authority. Command." said Ivan, his eyes following the crumbling pieces of metal and plastic as they fell from Gilbert's fingers. "A semblance of imagination, creation, individuality… free will."

"Like, what are you saying?" Feliks squeaked. "You mean that it became… a- a person?"

"No, that thing became Braginski, Feliks. So it'll never be a person…" Gilbert muttered vehemently. "But I think that's what Natalya was trying to tell me as well. She called it 'him'."

"In truth, he is me." said Ivan, with a far off look in his face. "I've heard that he likes the same things I do… craves the same things I do."

Gilbert heard his chair slam to the floor as he rose. "Tell me…" his voice was shaking. "Tell me why you would have taken Roderich."

"Who is this Roderich?" Ivan asked, curiously. "I've been hearing about him quite often."

"Gilbert, I don't think that now is totally a good time—"

Gilbert talked over Feliks's words. "He's a man. Quite thin, b-beautiful, someone you obviously like—"

"Obviously?"

"Ja, your evil twin kissed him." said Gilbert grimly.

"Ahh… As a greeting? Did it tell him that it's tradition where I come from?" asked Ivan.

Gilbert blinked. "Ja… it did."

Ivan chuckled. "What else?"

Gilbert's eyebrows furrowed. "What 'what else'?"

"What does this man look like?"

Gilbert was chewing on the inside of his cheek. "He has lilac eyes, dark hair, blushes easily. He has a mole beside his lips. That enough for you?"

"Da... Quite enough." A terrible smile was forming on his face.

"Then tell me." Gilbert couldn't help the pleading tone of his voice. "What would you have done to him?"

Something was bubbling behind Ivan's eyes as he watched Gilbert. "I would not have tortured him, if that's what you're worried about. Or even raped him… Oh, no no no…"

Gilbert felt his body relax for a bit, but then Braginski opened his mouth again. "No. It's torture when the person is hurt, when he's crying and shouting because he doesn't like the melted barbed wires piercing his skin! You remember that well don't you?" There was a maniacal glint in his purple eyes. "And rape, well… it's when the person doesn't like the sex. But this Roderich you told me about… I would make him like it. Love it. He would beg me for chains, beg me to hurt him! I would make him whisper my name in the black of the night, I would make him beg for me, until even the slightest distances would make him long for my presence, I would—"

There was a resounding crash as Gilbert threw his fallen chair across the room, hitting Ivan square on the face. The Russian fell unconscious, a faint smile still on his lips. Gilbert panted like he had just finished a marathon. He grabbed Feliks's card from his pocket and wrenched the door open, running out of the cell.

Feliks exited after him with a sigh, watching Gilbert figure pelting away across the hallway. As the door closed behind him, Feliks stared at the sleeping man inside the cell.

Every single word Braginski had said had been true.

.

.

Gilbert entered the room sometime around the middle of the meeting.

"We're gonna storm the fortress." he announced firmly, the moment he burst in.

"Don't be silly Gilbert." said Yao, placing his fingers on his temples. "The factory is in Korea. I understand that you're upset about Rode—"

"It's not about that. It's because-" said Gilbert, his voice was well controlled. His eyes found Natalya, who was sitting around the table with them. "I can't believe you're letting her sit in here… What's next? Are we recruiting her into the Intelligence?"

Natalya narrowed her eyes at Gilbert but didn't say anything. Yao shook his head. "We have removed all the weapons from her person, aru. What point are you trying to make Gilbert?

Gilbert's slightly eyes, slightly red at the edges, were wide as they stared at Natalya. "What aren't you telling us?" he asked, his voice low and menacing.

"I have no idea what he is talking about." the woman said, turning away from Gilbert.

Feliks batted his lashes confusedly. "Hey… that wasn't the truth." he said.

Immediately, Fritz and Maria stood up in unison and grabbed hold of Natalya arms, restraining her as she fought wildly in their grasp.

"Let go of me!" she screeched, trying to bite at their hands.

"Stop it!" Maria yelled at her. "What are—Just tell us what you're hiding! Don't you want all this to stop? Don't you want to save your brother?"

"Aargh!" she screamed, struggling. Feliks rolled his eyes. He leaned over the table and grabbed Natalya's chin with his slight fingers, and kissed her on the cheek.

Tolys, who had been sitting beside Feliks, gave him a strange look which was a mix between astonishment and frustration. His eyes became wide when Natalya fell limp in her captors' arms.

"Paralyzing lipstick. Totally handy isn't it?" Feliks said as a means of explanation. He pulled out a packed syringe from his pocket and small crystal vial full of a forest green liquid. "The antidote… If you guys wanna like, question her right now."

Gilbert nodded towards Feliks as the blond put the objects on his hands. Maria cuffed Natalya's hands to the table, and Fritz tied her feet together. Gilbert dug the needle into a vein on Natalya's neck, injecting the liquid into her harshly. The was a ten second wait before the platinum blonde opened her eyes with a gasp and a jerk. Her eyes locked onto Feliks with an angry pout and she seemed to remember what had happened.

There was a long silence before she finally spoke.

"It doesn't matter where the parts are made, or assembled."

All eyes in the room went to Feliks for confirmation and he nodded to them.

"Explain." said Yao with a severe expression on his face.

"Look I cannot be certain!" retorted Natalya. "But if that thing really thinks like Vanya, then it would have its own detonator! A plan B! Something which would allow him to launch the bombs at a distance… perhaps, even control it manually."

"Damn." Yao muttered.

"Ja, 'damn' is the right word here." Gilbert declared, glowering at the people in the room. "So, what do we so now? Sit back and enjoy the end of the world?"

Feliks shuddered. Yao was staring guiltily at the blank screen. Tolys was looking back and forth between Feliks and Natalya as the woman kept staring at the blonde. Then, Maria raised her voice. "How hard will it be to enter the fortress?"

"Almost impossible. There are more than two hundred sentries stationed on every wall, and state-of-the-art machines guarding every entrance." Natalya explained, her eyes now on her handcuffs. "Penetrating the Braginski Fortress means death."

Fritz turned to Maria. "Get your troops ready? I'll get mine."

Natalya gave them a befuddled look. "Are you insane? I just told you that it's impossible to breach the fortress!"

But Gilbert saw Maria smiling her wicked smile for the first time since they had lost Roderich. "Are you kidding me? It sounds like fun."

---

.

The entrance was well guarded all right. Gilbert half suspected that the men guarding the large iron door were robots as well. None of them were moving an inch, or even exchanging a single word with their companions. Despite the cold blizzard wind blowing snow and hail into their faces, they stood as still as statues.

Gilbert fumbled with the buttons on his communicator through his thick gloves and cursed. "Agents, come in."

There was static and Maria's voice was whispering in his ear. "We are quite close now." she said. "Fritz is hacking the electronics board. A minute before we launch the sparklers."

"Copy that." Gilbert said. "Counting down. What about you bitc-… oh sorry, Natalya?"

A faint snarl then the sound of rushed wind. "I'm at the front gate." Came a shaking voice as she ran. "Now's the time to do this or not at all."

Feliks was beside Gilbert, eyes intent on his watch. "30 seconds."

Gilbert looked up at the icy fortress in front of them from behind the pine tree and shivered, his mind on Roderich. Wondering what the fuck that abomination had done to him... If anything happened to him—

"Now." Feliks said, and there was a boom on the other side of the wintry forest. Gilbert saw fluorescent fireworks go off in the sky on the other side of the building and an alarm began to blare. Maria had released the flares and Natalya had tripped the security systems. As they had hoped for, the guards came to life and miraculously fell for the diversion. Half of them went back into the fortress while the other ran towards the front of the building, weapons ready.

There was a thud and Fritz called. "Your way's clear."

"Thanks Fritz."

"Team Leader… be careful."

Gilbert's expression became grim and he nodded to no one in particular. Rushing out from behind the tree, his guns in his hand, Gilbert ran up to the comparatively smaller back doors, with Feliks right behind him. His thrusters helped him jump to the ledge above the door where the red alarm over the air duct had been disabled by their decoy plan. Feliks was nearly thrown off course because of the force of the biting wind but managed to get up on the ledge. Gilbert kicked away the steel protectors blocking the entrance and went in, crawling on all fours as noiselessly as he could. Feliks was right behind him.

"Roddy…"

Feliks coughed softly behind him, no doubt trying to diffuse the tension.

"Gilbert, you have a very nice ass... I mean, it's not the bubble-butt people usually go for but it's manly and—"

"Not now, Feliks."

He was glad that the man was trying to help; but now really wasn't the moment. Gilbert's heart was hammering in his chest very unprofessionally. He feared what he would find. Finally, they came to a fork at the ducts.

"What do we do?" Feliks asked him.

"Erm… Yao's coordinating Maria and Fritz, so he asked me to help you guys out." came the nervous voice on the com. "If you've just reached a divergence, then you should know that the left one leads to the main building and the right one goes to the control centers."

"Which one should we take?" Gilbert asked.

"I don't know! I'm sorry." Tolys said. "I've only ever been in the control centers and research labs, never in the actual building itself."

Gilbert looked at the darkness facing him both ways. "Feliks." He said, his voice a mere whisper. "Take the right, the Lithuanian can guide you through."

"Gilbert, like no!" Feliks retorted immediately. "Bad idea—"

"Feliks really, don't argue right now." Gilbert replied, dead serious. "Do as I say."

He took the left without waiting for a reply. He heard Feliks huff behind him but heard the man shuffling away. The darkness just went on and on. The tunnel looked sinister and there was no end ahead it seemed, even though his night vision goggles. Gilbert at least had a ten minute crawl if he wanted to go back— suddenly he began to feel a little claustrophobic. The duct didn't seem to have much air flowing through it, and it seemed to get narrower. Had the walls always been touching his shoulders like that? Suddenly sweltering, Gilbert took off three layers of his clothes until he was only in cargo pants and a T-shirt. His breath was coming in huffs.

No! He couldn't think like that! Roderich's life was in danger and here he was getting scared of a little darkness and heat? Of course it would be hotter now that he was inside the building! Think logically…

He clicked his com on and ploughed forward resiliently. "Feliks, any luck?" his voice wavered slightly.

"Man, Gilbert? You totally have to see this place. I'm not in the control rooms yet, but there's this lab here… It's sick- they've got all sorts of animals wired to these machines, or inside these watery glass containers…. Like, there's a kangaroo here with two heads, and a wolf that's bigger than a jeep—"

There was tinkling sound from somewhere up ahead and Gilbert suddenly paused.

"Gilbert?"

"I gotta go!" Gilbert hurried forwards, because the sound had been unmistakable. There was a sudden bend to the right and Gilbert took it, coming suddenly to a barred ventilation panel inside a grand room. It looked like the inside of a house of royalty with all the carpets and furs it contained. The music was coming from a piano, a Tchaikovski piece, Gilbert recognized.

But what hit him with pure, unadulterated shock was the man playing the piano. It was Roderich, looking as calm and serene as ever. He didn't look hurt. He was dressed in a frilly, half buttoned shirt and shorts. He was barefoot and looked more at home then Roderich had ever seen him. Pain shot though Gilbert's veins when he noticed the red spots on the back of Roderich's neck. Perhaps he'd been leaning against the aluminum bars a little too forcefully because they suddenly gave away, and he was falling right into the grand room with a loud crash. Gilbert managed to grab hold of one of the drapes decorated across the ceiling and swung to the other side of the room, landing with a roll. Then he remembered who he was in the room with. The knife embedded itself against the wall were Gilbert's face had been not a second ago.

Roderich was standing up, his stance hostile, three blades in each hand.

"Who are you?" Roderich asked and Gilbert's blood ran colder than a Siberian river. They had been right after all. Ivan had administered some drug and now Roderich didn't even remember him.

"You used to prefer Chopin." Gilbert replied with a sad smile, pointing to the piano.

Roderich looked confused for a while. "How did you get in here?"

Gilbert chuckled. "There's a huge fight going on out there. But you wouldn't know would you? This room's obviously soundproof. Has it ever occurred to you that you're being kept in this room as a prisoner?"

Roderich stared at him. "This room belongs to Ivan and I." he said in a voice which made Gilbert's face turn sour. "Now give me a reason why these knives should not be in your neck."

"Because you're supposed to remember me!" Gilbert yelled, frustrated. "Do you remember anything of your old life? Antonio maybe? Or Elizabeta? Working for the secret service?"

"Stop stalling!" Roderich shouted, and if he didn't have safety pads over his forearm, then it would be sporting three blades in it right now. "Are you here to kill me?"

Roderich's eyes were wild and he was breathing heavily, his other knives were pointed straight at Gilbert's chest. Gilbert got up from his knees and walked towards him.

"Don't you remember Ludwig or Feliciano? Baking Alfred that cake for his birthday? Racing Arthur every time during swimming practice?"

"Stay away." Roderich threatened, nimbly jumping out of his way. Even in such a serious situation, Gilbert could help but admire his pale legs, which were on full display. "Get away!"

"You're saying that now? After all we've done? Now don't tell me that you don't remember our kiss!" Gilbert chuckled, but his voice had taken on a pleading tone.

Roderich closed his eyes and shook his head violently. "No…That is not possible! Ivan is the one I love, he is the one I—"

Gilbert felt a white-hot jolt of anger and reached for Roderich's shoulders, ignoring the blades slashing at him.

"You always were dramatic, Priss." Gilbert muttered and suddenly, Roderich's empty hand went to his temple.

He looked like he was about to cave in on himself. "Stop." Roderich said, his voice strained. He dropped to his knees and shivered.

"Roddy?"

"Stop!" Roderich winced and yelled this time, and Gilbert let go of his shoulders at the anguish in his voice. "It hurts! Stop making it hurt!" His hands grasped at either side of his head.

Tears were beginning to form in Roderich's eyes and Gilbert gently took the knives out of his hand. "Hey there, you have to be careful you know. The only reason anyone likes you is because of your pretty face. We don't want that disfigured now do we, Priss?"

Roderich's glare looked so familiar and so real that Gilbert's heart wrenched at the sight.

"Do not call me that."

Gilbert ghosted his hand over Roderich's shoulder and straightened the glasses on his nose. "Then what do you want me to call you Roddy? Little Master?"

Roderich scrunched up his eyes again and let out a silent scream. Gilbert ended up placing his hands over Roderich's and tried to loosen their grip on Roderich's hair.

"Hey, hey… calm the fuck down."

"Do— I do not…"

"What?"

"Do I… know you from somewhere?"

Gilbert's heart skipped beats like a broken record. "What did you say?"

Roderich's eyes were red, and he was grimacing in pain. "I keep getting these images… Of you, and other places I think I know… but I do not recognize them! I do not recognize you!"

"Roddy, look at me." Gilbert said, trying to tilt Roderich's face up towards him.

"No…" Roderich said. "No, you are an imposter!"

"Roddy…"

"Get out! Get out before I call the guards!"

"Ro—"

"Do not touch me you insolent mongrel—"

"Hey! Say whatever you want Roderich but I won't have you badmouthing me over how aristocratic your rich ass is!" Gilbert shouted slightly angered and Roderich opened his eyes looking straight at him. They were as violet as spring lavenders, and startled. His lips were slightly open in apparent shock and his hands dropped from his head.

Gilbert suddenly couldn't take it anymore. All the worry, the sleepless nights these past weeks, all those fun times they had, all that unresolved desire, all the bickering, all the hate when they first met… it all came down to this? Stupid, fucking… amnesia?

Gilbert grabbed Roderich's chin and pulled it towards him angrily. Roderich's lips were as soft as Gilbert remembered. He moved his own lips harshly against them until they opened with a gasp. Gilbert remembered the red bitemarks on Roderich neck and his other hand clenched into a fist when he remembered his conversation with the real Ivan. His teeth caught hold of Roderich's bottom lip and bit hard. There was a movement and a stinging slap was delivered to his cheek.

Gilbert looked up to see Roderich with both hands over his mouth, but not in pain, it looked more like he was in shock.

"I am sorry!" Roderich said, and Gilbert wondered if whatever drug Braginski had used had addled his mind or not. "I did not mean to hit you— but you should not have kissed me like that, Gilbert. I assume you are on a mission here?"

Gilbert blinked. "Roddy?"

"Yes?" Roderich asked, wide-eyed.

Gilbert didn't breathe for a moment. "You… remember?"

Roderich frowned. "It is very painful, but some vague things are coming back to me… Besides, do you really think I could forget someone as insufferable as you?"

Gilbert choked out a laugh at the veiled insult that was so Roderich, and launched himself towards the man who yelped in surprise. Gilbert hugged him fiercely, his forehead against Roderich's heated throat. "I thought I'd lost you…" Roderich frame was much thinner, and it felt like his body was dropping its weight completely on Gilbert's support.

"Do not be so dramatic Gilbert." Roderich somehow still managed to snap. "Now tell me, is there any way of getting us out of here?"

.

---

.

---

.

Tolys was very agitated. Gilbert had arrived at their hidden base in the acre-wide pine forest with an unconscious Roderich an hour ago, but Feliks still wasn't there yet.

They could here gunshots, the fighting was still going on. Their drones against Ivan's men.

There was a rustling noise beside him and Tolys looked up to see Gilbert, who had finally left Roderich's side. "So, give it to me straight. What happened?"

"Ivan— the real Ivan- he broke free. He threatened us with Yao so we had to let Natalya go." Maria said, flinching when one of her comrades tried to bandage the gash on her side. "But he told us how to destroy the fortress and the chemical bomb launching systems, and Feliks is working on it."

Gilbert looked flabbergasted. "So… wait, what- is Yao okay?

Fritz shook his head, there were deep scratches on his arms. "We do not know." He said. "We are assuming Ivan took him wherever he went to."

Gilbert did a double-take. "He took Yao? We have to do something— get him back!"

Maria shook her head. "We have no bearings whatsoever. Yao left us a message as he was taken… and he told us not to go searching for him. I'll let you listen to it later."

"Where could he have gone?" Gilbert snarled. Tolys had heard that they had some unfinished business.

"They have many fortresses across Eurasia, they could be anywhere. The destruction of this one won't even mean anything to him." Tolys said. "But I don't understand what's taking so long!"

Maria snorted. "The last we heard, the electronic Ivan had integrated himself into the building. It might just be a teensy bit harder to hack into their systems now I think."

Gilbert nodded. "That's how they knew to send those drones on me and Roddy. Gott I really wanted to be the one to destroy him, but I'm not leaving Roddy out of my sight for a second."

Maria shrugged. "At least that means that he won't be able to get out so eas-"

There was an earth-shattering noise and they all stumbled where they stood. Two tremendous shockwaves billowed out through them and Tolys saw the tallest pillar of the fortress disappear out of sight above the treetops. They were quite far away but the smoke of the debris could be seen rising in a plume upwards.

"Scheiße!" Gilbert shouted. "Somebody get Feliks on the com!"

"No…" Tolys whispered, he felt an itchiness on the bridge of his nose, the kind you get right before breaking down.

Suddenly a burst was heard and a figure shot skyward from what was no doubt the ruin of the fortress. It was too small for Tolys to see who it was but he had a hunch and hoped he was right. The figure had been heading towards the trees where they were but it suddenly stopped rising, and the next second it was plummeting. Gilbert was in the air in the blink of an eye and he rushed towards it through the trees.

They lost sight of him. Tolys felt like his was going to implode on himself. Maria was giving him sympathetic look. Being a woman, Tolys assumed that she had noticed. Not that it mattered anyway. Feliks didn't even remember him… but Tolys had, he had remembered him even when he had forgotten everyone else. Now, he wasn't even going to get the chance to tell him…

After about fifteen grueling minutes, they finally caught sight of two figures approaching them. The white of Gilbert's hair melded in with the fresh snow at he carried Feliks body in his arms. Tolys immediately rushed forward towards them.

"What happened?" Tolys asked.

"He like… crashed me into a tree." Feliks's voice was like godsend. It sounded broken… but to Tolys's ears it was perfect. "He didn't need to… I was saving some power for the last minute because I totally knew that I didn't have enough!"

"How was I supposed to know that? The only thing we saw was you falling out of the sky!" Gilbert said, unceremoniously dropping his arms so that Feliks landed on his ass on the snow. Gilbert shivered in his single layer of clothes and stomped of towards the others.

Tolys reached his hand out to Feliks, who stared at it for a moment before taking it and getting to his feet.

"You know Liet, you have a totally sexy voice." he said with a grin, making Tolys blush. "I mean, it was pretty rough down there, with all those robots and stuff around, and among all that… you voice was like, heaven."

"Thanks?" Tolys said. He didn't understand why Feliks insisted on calling him that ridiculous system. "So he's d-dead?"

Feliks rolled his eyes. "I don't know. Do artificial brain chips survive bomb explosions? I feel kinda sorry about those mutated animals, even though I'm like totally sure that that kangaroo was carnivorous." his lips were shining and Tolys felt inexplicably drawn to them. He remembered the way Feliks had kissed his cheek at the dance that night, but then he had that lip-gloss on… so it had been for his mission, no feelings attached.

"Do you have that lipstick on again?" Tolys asked, pointing to his too pink lips.

Feliks giggled. "Yeah, I do. Why you want to try them?"

Tolys didn't know if Feliks meant his lips or his lip-gloss. But it became rather evident when the blonde placed his hand over Tolys's mouth and kissed its gloved back.

Tolys gave Feliks a stupid grin, and then to the latter's utter confusion he promptly fainted from sheer happiness.

---

A few months later:

.

Roderich turned the corner of the corridor and realized that he had come back to the toilets. Again.

"Oh no." he had never been to the First Aid floor before, and it was very different from the other ones. They had let him out tonight, but Roderich had no idea where the elevators were, or the stairs. Even the stairs would be a good option at this point.

So, with his back full of get-well card, teddy bears and chocolates, Roderich turned the corner aimlessly. And again. And again. He had to find it at some point! On his fourth turning he crashed into someone who had been running towards him and bit his tongue upon collision.

"Ouch…" he said, his hand slapping to his mouth. "Please watch where you are—"

"You!" shouted Gilbert's voice angrily in his ear. "I've been looking for you for hours and hours! I went down to the parking lot, the primary workfloors, the climbing area, the pool—"

Roderich ignored the iron taste of blood filling his mouth and watched Gilbert animatedly complain. He had bought him back from the Lethe-like existence at the fortress. He had saved him…

He had kissed him. Twice!

What was Roderich supposed to make of that? That first one… it had felt so real—but had that just been his imagination. Could it be that Gilbert had… no, but he had kissed him again! Why? To make him remember? Perhaps Gilbert had thought that doing it would jolt his memory-

"…are you listening to me?"

Roderich looked up at Gilbert's blazing eyes beneath his furrowed, pale eyebrows. "I am sorry, what did you say?"

Gilbert huffed and crossed his arms. "I said that I thought you had left, or that something had happened to you. We have a welcome back party for you tonight remember? I thought… you know, as you partner, that I was taking you there." there definitely was a slight pink on those pale cheeks.

"Oh. Oh! Yes," Roderich suddenly remembered the party. Personally, he just wanted to go back to his home and figure out how he could make staying beside Gilbert slightly more bearable for his poor heart. "I was going to go down to the lobby, but I—erm, could not find the staircase. Or the elevators."

Gilbert stared at him. "Stairs? Roddy, were you lost?" he asked. "Here? Inside the Intelligence building where you've worked for… how many years now?"

"Shut up." Roderich mumbled looked away, his face heated up immediately. He heard a sigh from Gilbert and then there were strong arms around his body. Gilbert was inhaling heavily at the crook of his neck and it made him want to blush more.

"Figures." He hummed. "I couldn't have expected anything less from a man who loses his way in his own house. Never change, Roddy."

Roderich's stomach did a flip.

"Roddy you need to eat more." Gilbert's lips were brushing his neck… Didn't Gilbert know that? "You're thinner than Yao now."

Yao's name brought a cool rush of guilt down his spine and Roderich dropped the bag he was holding.

"Roddy?" Gilbert drew back and stared into his face.

"I feel so sorry about that. I did not trust him and now… he has left us and joined—"

"He's happy." Gilbert said firmly. "He's happier than he's ever been here with us."

"Gilbert, now he's with an illegal weapons manufacturing association!"

"Well, let's hope they deliver their good to us and we can be finally be free of Zwingli." Gilbert said very seriously and Roderich gave him a stern look which broke up fast.

"It is still… my fault."

Gilbert shook his head adamantly. "He's with Im Yong Soo now, he's with his family. I dunno why or how but for some reason, Braginski let him go. That's what we should be glad about."

"But Kiku—"

"Kiku's a bit broken up about it but he'll get over it. It's like when Antonio left us. Francis was pissed for a couple weeks but we're still best friends."

"But…"

"Shhh." Gilbert placed a finger over Roderich lips. "Just shut up, Priss. You're being more stupid than usual." There was that usual slant on his grinning lips.

Roderich closed his eyes. "How can you act so normally, after what happened?"

"I tend not to linger on things." Gilbert said chuckling. "I'd be a mess if I kept thinking about all that's happened to me. It's really easy actually, you should try it sometime."

"…I meant our kiss." Roderich said, his eyes refocusing on Gilbert. "Our kisses."

He just couldn't back out now. Roderich didn't even know when he had begun affecting him so much. When had be begun to think of Gilbert as handsome, not annoying? When had his cackling laugh become charming, instead of grating? His ruby eyes had become attractive. His smile had become sexy. His voice had become so irresistible. His touch now made butterflies take flight inside him. He was even ready to give his life to save this idiot's, and he almost had.

Gilbert however, looked incensed. "Look, can we not talk about this?"

Roderich frowned, his insides already beginning to crack. "Why?"

Gilbert gave him a shrewd look. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me."

"I want us to continue being friends. I'm not losing what we have here!"

"…then why did you kiss me?"

"Because…" Gilbert looked like he was physically trying to stop talking as he pressed his lips tightly together. "Gott… I'm attracted to you, alright? It's nothing serious. I don't even know why I do! You're the first guy I've liked this way and you're my ex's ex! And I know that you don't like guys like me, you like the Antonio types don't you? Or the Vash types?"

Roderich, who was now downhearted by the fact that Gilbert's feelings weren't as profound as his, suddenly grinned. "The Vash types? Whatever made you think that?"

Gilbert's pale complexion did nothing to hide the redness of his cheeks. "It's pretty obvious if you open your eyes for once…"

"Gilbert?"

"Ja?"

Roderich smiled and pressed his lips to the corner of Gilbert's. When he drew back, he saw Gilbert spluttering. "What—what was that for?"

"Thank you. For saving my life." Roderich told him truthfully. It was fine, if Gilbert didn't want to have anything between them, then he would deal with it.

Gilbert nodded, waving his hand like it was nothing, but his eyes were fixed on Roderich's lips. In the next instant, Roderich found himself pulled into an infirmary room and the door shut behind them. Gilbert slammed him against the door and locked it. His eyes were boring into Roderich's.

"Sorry."

Roderich frowned. "Why?"

Gilbert's teeth were very sharp, Roderich noted, when they bit right into his lips in the form of a kiss. Gilbert's hands went under his shirt and felt the bumps of his spine, the curve of his hipbones. Roderich's own rose to wrap around Gilbert's neck. He let Gilbert do as he pleased, and Gilbert was being vicious. It wasn't like the passionate kiss they'd shared the first time, or the relatively painful second one either… No, this one was a strange mix between desire and anger.

Gilbert moaned when his ministrations successfully parted Roderich's lips and their tongues touched tentatively. Gilbert plundered his mouth hotly, pressing right up against him. It was so wet and perfect that Roderich swooned.

Gilbert was the one who parted their lips suddenly and looked at Roderich with something akin to pain in his eyes. "I can't after all…" he seemed to be talking to himself. "If I catch you doing this with someone else, I think I'll murder them!"

Roderich should have been alarmed by the fact that Gilbert sounded dead serious, but he was mildly excited by all of it. Gilbert's jaw clenched and suddenly, a hot mouth was sucking on his throat, and Roderich groaned.

"Stop… Gilbert, wait." But Gilbert didn't. Like a possessed man his hand tore at the button's on Roderich's chest until it was gone from his body. Gilbert then took his own T-shirt off alarmingly fast and pulled Roderich flush against him.

"I knew since our first training session, maybe even before that, that you're hot." Gilbert pressed an open-mouthed kiss on his shoulder. "But then when we went to you house that day… I finally realized…"

Realized what? Roderich wanted to ask, but all conscious thought fled his mind as Gilbert fingers ghosted over his lower back and his stomach.

"Where did he touch you?"

"...Hmm?"

"What did he do to you?"

"What, ah! What are you—"

"I meant Braginski." Gilbert growled, biting the places he had been sucking on a while ago.

"He didn't… We never—"

"Don't." Gilbert's hand cradled Roderich's face. "Please just tell me, ja? I need to know."

"I am telling the truth." Roderich retorted.

"Don't!" Gilbert's lips claimed his again in a bruising kiss. "I saw those bitemarks he left on your skin! Tell me what he did to you!"

"I got those from the drug injections!" Roderich said, his hands on Gilbert's shoulders. "I am telling you… nothing happened."

Gilbert looked deep into his eyes and then suddenly, his knees seemed to give away and he fell to the floor. His forehead came to rest against Roderich's navel and he slowly breathed in and out. "I love you, Priss."

Roderich's breath hitched.

"I know it's insane." Gilbert muttered. "But I lied a while ago, it's not just that I'm hot for you. I really, really like you and don't ask me why."

Roderich's hand came to rest gently on the top of Gilbert's head and played with the hairs there. "So what now?"

Gilbert slowly tipped his head up to look at Roderich and wrapped his hands around Roderich's thighs. He picked him up and threw him down on the only bed in that room, before lunging on top of him.

Gilbert gave him another peck on the lips and then his mouth was on one of Roderich's nipples, his tongue lapping at it in a way which sent shots of heat to Roderich's lower regions. His fingers were tugging down Roderich's trousers, and Roderich let him, lifting his hips up to help.

Gilbert's hand reached right into his underwear without ado and grasped his manhood firmly, making Roderich moan deeply. He tugged on Gilbert's hair, and pulled him back up, joining their mouths together in a frenzy of teeth and lips. Gilbert reached up and removed Roderich's glasses his other hand still tugging on his member. Roderich arched his back and Gilbert tsked.

"What gives you the right to be so damn sexy?" he asked, his lips brushing Roderich's ear. "It's not fair. You're driving me crazy."

"L-Likewise." Roderich felt proud of himself for being able to even articulate that word as his hands roamed over Gilbert's back and chest. It was scarred, Roderich had seen that before, but it was perfect and Roderich placed a small kiss on Gilbert's collarbone.

His hand's went lower and deftly undid Gilbert's jeans button, then the zipper. Gilbert pulled himself out of his pants and boxers in one tug and let his proud shaft show proudly.

"See?" Gilbert asked, a slight smirk on his lips as Roderich eyes his rather large dick. "See what you do to me? I've been jerking off to you for months Roddy."

"Wha—"

But Gilbert was moving away, his hand reaching for something out of side? There was a slight rustle and when he came back, there was a tube of ointment in his hand. "This will do right?"

Roderich's eyes widened when he realized that this was really happening. He was about to have sex with a man whom he swore he hated not months ago. Gilbert had a hesitating look on his face.

"You'll have to err… tell me what to do. I have no idea…"

Roderich took in the look on his face and smiled, he reached for Gilbert's hand and placed two fingers in his mouth sucking on them and grinning to himself when he saw Gilbert's pupils dilate. Then he guided them lower to his entrance. "Use it. The ointment."

Gilbert was looking at him like he couldn't believe what was happening either. "How did it come to this?" Gilbert asked, staring at Roderich as he moved between Roderich's spread legs.

How indeed? Roderich wondered. A finger prodded at his hole and slid in, then another followed and Roderich felt his muscles clench around them and gasped. Gilbert lowered his body over Roderich's and licked a line across his lower lip. The cold iron cross locket hung from Gilbert's chain and fell on Roderich's chest.

"Gott… Roddy, I really do love you." Gilbert said, his face falling back on Roderich's neck again.

"Me too." Roderich hadn't actually meant to say it right then. He'd been saving it for a more romantic moment later on, but Gilbert's reaction made it worth it. His lips pulled up into a candy-high smile and Roderich felt his hardness twitch against his ass.

"Really?" Gilbert asked his voice hoarse. "Do you mean it?"

Roderich simply shuddered and pulled Gilbert back down for a kiss in response.

"Roddy…" Gilbert fingers were still playing, teasing, scissoring him down there.

"Just put it in." Roderich whined. That was all the invitation Gilbert needed. Without waiting any further, Gilbert took his fingers out and hastily applied on the lotion and thrust in. Roderich cried out in pain and Gilbert hurriedly paused.

"Sorry!" Gilbert said, sounding genuinely so for once. "I'm reall—"

"Just go on!" Roderich said, pressing himself down onto Gilbert's manhood. They were finally together, in a way some of Roderich's dreams had suggested to him. Gilbert began moving, his hips rolling with every thrust. Harder each time…

"Go faster!" Roderich muttered, his fingernails raking over Gilbert's back. "Gilbert!"

Gilbert groaned and sped up immediately. "Say it again…"

"Gilbert! Gilbert, Gilbert, Gilbert—"

"Scheiße!" Gilbert's mouth was on his again, cutting off the words. Gilbert was lapping at Roderich's mouth, plunging in and making Roderich's body go numb and heated at the same time. He let it happen. He let Gilbert's lips violate and claim his, felling his orgasm rise in way it had never done before.

His legs wrapped around Gilbert's hips, pulling him in closer than they already were. Gilbert's hand was moving with the same rhythm on Roderich's hardness, his mouth working magic against his, his thrusts coming faster and faster—

"Roderich." Gilbert muttered the name against his lips like it was a prayer. At the same time, his dick hit that spot inside Roderich which made him lose composure completely and let out a shaky whimper. He came right then in ropes of pearly fluid, and as his muscles contracted, riding out his climax, he felt Gilbert stiffen and come as well with a harsh cry inside him.

They were both panting and moaning. Gilbert planted a surprisingly tender kiss on Roderich's cheek and burrowed into the crook of his neck, without pulling out.

"I'll never let you go now that you've said that." He said. "I hope you realize the consequences."

"I am counting on it." Roderich replied.

They lay there like that, still attached intimately to each other at Roderich spread legs. Gilbert's heated body against Roderich's, his hips still rolling slightly, his lips against Roderich's throat. Gilbert chuckled almost inaudibly. Roderich's hand tightened on Gilbert's muscled back and he pulled them even closer together. "What is it?"

Gilbert came up on his elbows and gave Roderich a few lazy kisses. "You won't believe this." He said, his eyes looking over Roderich's mussed up hair, his bitten red lips, his heated face, and his glazed eyes. "After all that's happened… right now the only thing I'm thinking about is how I wanna kill whoever else has seen you like this, and that includes my best friend Antonio."

Roderich looked up at the pain in Gilbert's eyes, and brushed his knuckled against his cheeks softly. "Thinking like that is silly… I am with you right now, and it is your body against mine and not his. That is what matters."

Gilbert's lips didn't seem to be able to leave his alone because he closed the distance between them again with a soft sigh. "If only I'd have met you before… we could have had so many years already." he said between kisses.

Roderich smiled into his lips. "You have me now. So let's not let thoughts of Antonio or anyone else come into our bed?"

Gilbert growled when Roderich said 'Antonio', and put his mouth on Roderich's throat again, no doubt to make another kiss mark. "You're right… Never say his name again in that voice. Ever."

"As long as you keep saying mine in that voice."

"Roderich." Gilbert said immediately.

Roderich grinned, playing with the hairs on the nape of Gilbert's neck as he sucked on his skin. As he felt himself slowly getting excited at Gilbert's ministrations, and Gilbert's responding length thickening again inside him, Roderich wondered somewhere in the back of his head how exactly he was going to cover his hickeys during summer months.

---

Epilogue

.

They were all waiting for the priest to finished the long introductions and just ask for the 'I do's. It was obvious to see how restless the two men at the altar were as well.

So many people had been invited to the wedding. There was Elizabeta, sniffling as she sat with her Romanian husband whose name Gilbert hadn't bothered to learn. Ludwig and Feliciano were there too. Even Antonio had come. Francis kept grinning at his new boyfriend, Matthew. Kiku was snapping away photos with abandon.

When the priest finally said "You many now kiss."Gilbert grinned hugely as Alfred turned to pull Arthur's right off the ground into a very enthusiastic kiss. Arthur's amused laughter could be heard through the garden.

Gilbert felt Roderich's fingers tighten in their entwined hands and turned to give him a kiss on the temple.

"Oh dear god." Elizabeta said from behind them, as she sobbed. "It's about time for you guys too don't you think? How long have you guys been together now?"

Gilbert looked into Roderich's eyes and just let himself go. They kissed as everyone cheered for Alfred and Arthur. In Gilbert's defense, his heart went out to them, truly. But he just couldn't take his hands off Roderich. Not when he looked so well-dressed and edible like now.

Roderich's eyes were blazing as they stared back at him. Gilbert knew that he would never propose to Roderich. He knew that Roderich would never accept— seeing as what his past engagements had led to.

Besides, they didn't need a label or a ring to prove their relationship. Roderich was his and he was Roderich's. They both knew that. So did everyone else, since Gilbert had strategically placed a bitemark somewhere Roderich couldn't see but the rest of the world could.

As he latched onto Roderich's lips again, Gilbert thought that he'd never felt so much for anyone else in his whole life. They kissed, again and again, until Francis off all people had to wolf-whistle them into remembering where they were.

"I have to go." Gilbert whispered to Roderich. "Franny and Tonio have a nice little food fight planned when the lovely couple begin cutting the cake."

Roderich rolled his eyes but didn't try to stop him. He simply placed a lingering kiss on Gilbert's cheek and then pushed him away with a sterner look. "You will never change."

"You love me for it!" Gilbert cackled, winking.

"Yes, I do." Roderich admitted, blushing.

"Ja?... Well, I do too."

And if that wasn't as good as any other wedding vow, then Gilbert really didn't know what was.

.

---

AN/: GAWD! I've spend ages on this story now! Love this PAIRING soooooo much!

So I hope you all enjoy this one!

Suggest pairings please coz I wanna write more Hetalia stories! I think you can pair almost anyone with anyone else in Hetalia (they all have at least one back story!)

You can ask me any questions concerning the events (like, clarifications and whatnot) in this Alternate Universe. =(^_^)=

LUV U GUYS!

(Please read, review and point out any grammatical mistakes I've made! … I know how annoying that shizz can be!)