Initially set right after Gil was adopted by the Nightrays, so he's 14 and Elliot is about 6. This fic is about Gil and Elliot. Gil AND Elliot. No pairing. Well, unless you really want to see it that way...

Huge thanks to MirrorDede for beta-reading! Huge thanks. Huge. You need to thank her too, because my original draft... Oh man...

Spoilers if you're not caught up. Head Hunter stuff. :/

If I owned Pandora Hearts, Elliot and Gil would get more "brother" time... And Gil would make it back in 10 minutes (ch 55 spoiler)!
...[he'd better make it back in time either way].

-What Brothers Are For-

Elliot Nightray ran in random circles around the Nightray courtyard, waving his arms in the afternoon sun. Without warning he stopped and stood perfectly still. He clenched his fists as he gathered his wits and summoned his secret weapon: "Raven!"

And then he was in motion again. "Caw! Caw!" he cried, flapping his wings this time. But soon after he became Raven, he transformed back into Elliot, running back to his original spot. "Get 'em, Raven!" Elliot shouted, pointing at the bad guy a few feet away.

'Raven' did just that. Surging forward, he tackled the villain to the ground. The captured enemy was enveloped in black wings as Elliot once again appeared. His pose could be described as nothing short of epic as Raven vanished, leaving Elliot to loom over the evil one. "You're under arrest," he said. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"..."

"Ha. That's no excuse for breaking the law."

"..."

"Maybe you should have thought of that first."

"..."

"Whatever. Backup from Pandora will be here soon. You just stay where you are," Elliot commanded as he tied the man up.

Soon enough, Pandora arrived to take the criminal into custody. Once all of that had been taken care of, Elliot congratulated himself and his chain for a job well done. "Success!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "As expected of the amazing team: Elliot and Raven! Fighting the bad guys and kicking their butts!" He fell backward into the grass with a satisfied sigh.

Catching his breath, the boy felt a pair of eyes upon him. He didn't quite like being watched. So he got up and walked over to the other boy sitting in a chair by the door.

Gilbert looked up from his book as he heard Elliot's approach. Originally he had been reading Holy Knight, but with Elliot making so much noise, Gilbert gave up reading and just watched him play. The kid looked like he was having a lot of fun, running around and yelling stuff. He slightly reminded Gilbert of a younger Oz, with his bright eyes and even brighter smile. Gilbert missed him, but it wasn't too bad. He had been missing Oz all day, but happy memories made it hurt less.

"Your name's Gilbert, right?" Elliot asked, interrupting his thoughts. Gilbert nodded.

"And you know my name's Elliot, right?"

He nodded again. He'd only been with the Nightrays for a few days, but he certainly knew the name of the youngest son of the house.

"Okay, so um..." Elliot looked down at his shoes. "You wanna... um... you wanna play with me?"

Play with him? This noble kid wanted Gilbert to play with him? "Me?"

Elliot's face fell flat, "Well there's no one else here."

Gilbert blushed, embarrassed with his obvious question. Why on Earth would Elliot want to play with him? "H-how come you're not playing with your brothers?" That's what he normally did.

"They're busy working or something." Elliot's voice dropped and he began to mumble, "It's cool that they're protecting the family and all, but why can't they do that at home more*?" His voice brightened up again, "Vanessa can't play anything. And you're already out here."

Gilbert didn't exactly feel like playing, but it wouldn't hurt anyone. He might as well humor the boy. "O-okay. What are you playing?"

"Well, I was playing 'Contractor'. But I'm tired of that game. I'm not gonna contract Raven anyway."

"Why not?" Gilbert asked timidly.

"Cause I'm youngest. Ernest is gonna get Raven before I'm big enough." Elliot paused, pondering his next statement, "It's okay... As long as it's a Nightray protecting everyone. Well, everybody else can help too, but Nightrays do it best!" he said with a beaming smile. "I know Ernest, he'll do good." And that was the end of that. "So what should we play now...?" Gilbert watched him tap his jaw with his forefinger in thought, the way Ernest often did.

"Hmm... What to play... I know! Let's play 'runaway train'!" Elliot grabbed Gilbert's arm and dragged him out to the middle of the grass. But once they got there, Elliot ran away from him to the other end of the courtyard. Gilbert hadn't the slightest idea what he was supposed to do, so he just stood and watched as Elliot pushed the invisible buttons and flipped the invisible switches that surrounded him. The younger boy tugged twice on a rope that was supposedly above his head, and the game began.

"Woo woooooo! Here we go, boys! We won't stop 'till we reach Reveille!" He ran around the yard in his train for a few moments, but upon noticing Gilbert - again - he stopped. "Gilbert, what are you doing?"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Whatever you want for now... Haven't you played this game before?"

"No."

"Oh. That's okay, the disaster's about to start anyway."

"D-disaster?"

"Oh no! There's a damsel tied to the tracks!"

Gilbert looked toward where Elliot was pointing. He, of course, saw no damsel. And he still didn't know what sort of role he was supposed to be playing. Elliot cleared his throat, "Ahem, Gilbert! There's a damsel tied to the tracks!"

Elliot seemed to be growing impatient, and Gilbert, in a moment of panic and confusion (the train was hurtling toward him, after all), scrambled to the ground and lay down on the 'tracks'.

At this, the smaller boy had no choice but to pause the game. "Gilbert?"

"Y-yes?"

"You're a boy! Don't be the damsel! Save the damsel!" Gilbert felt sheepish. He should have known better, but whenever he played with Oz, he had always been the one in distress.

"Okay!" Gil shouted back from the train tracks. He knelt beside the poor girl and set to work untying her with expert fingers.

"Hurry, Gilbert, hurry!" Elliot called, "The train's coming! I can't stop it!"

"I've almost got it!" Gil shouted, working on the last knot.

"Here it comes!" Elliot said, quickly approaching them. But Gil managed to free the young woman and the two of them avoided the coming train in the nick of time. He felt the wind rush past his face as Elliot hurtled by them.

But the game wasn't over yet. "It's gonna crash!" Elliot turned around and screamed at them from his spot in the conductor's seat. "I have to jump!"

"Jump!" Gil encouraged. The damsel cheered him on as well.

"Here I gooooooooo!" Elliot jumped from his runaway train and tumbled into the grass, his crew landing safely behind him. There wasn't a scratch on any of them, of course. He took a few seconds to recover and then stood and walked over to Gil and the girl. "That was close," he laughed, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Yeah," Gil said, and laughed too.

"Nice job, Gilbert. I don't know what I would have done if somebody had been hurt because of me."

Gilbert rolled over in his massive bed. Perhaps lying on his back would work, he wasn't getting any sleep on his side. He threw his arm over his eyes and groaned quietly. He didn't know what to do. He knew it was pathetic, but he rarely had this problem before: indecisiveness. His whole life had revolved around Oz up till now. His priorities had been all sorted out long ago: wait for Oz, save Oz, bring Oz back.

But this had nothing to do with Oz. This was something he had to decide for himself. It was overwhelming, and Gilbert felt somewhat helpless.

If he went through with this, wouldn't it make him just like Ernest, Claude, and Fred? Abandoning the family in hopes of saving it, leaving them to fend for themselves? The only difference was that, unlike them, Gilbert would live. He had to, he had a purpose and a goal to reach. So he wouldn't die, but someone might get hurt if they were near him when trouble struck. On the other hand, how would everyone fare without him? With the older brothers dead and him gone, how would Vincent and Elliot defend themselves? What he needed to know was who was in more danger: him or them?

Gilbert liked to think of positive things when he was upset. Fond memories helped the best. They reminded him that no matter what shape his life was in currently, there was some happiness in it. And if he had been happy once, he would be happy again in time. Tonight he had remembered Oz, naturally. He remembered Oz, Ada, Oscar, and Oz again. He hadn't expected to recall anything else. So he was surprised to catch his mind drifting back to another occurrence.

I know! Let's play 'runaway train'!

Without a doubt a happy memory, but shocking nonetheless. This had come out of the darkest period of his life. It was in the beginning, when loss and loneliness hurt the most. He had almost forgotten it. How fitting that it would return to him now, so relevant to his dilemma.

They're protecting the family, but why can't they do that at home?

Someone softly rapped on the door. At this time of night? He sat up. "Come in."

The door opened slowly and Elliot entered the room, dressed in his nightgown. He closed the door gently behind him. "Hey, uh, Gilbert... So I had, um... I had this dream..."

Gilbert needed no further persuasion to scoot over to the other side of the bed. Elliot's screams from down the hall had woken him more than once, and his nightmares had been growing more frequent as of late. There had been no screams tonight, but he was certainly spooked. Gilbert wanted to ask about it, but it wasn't his place to pry. He wouldn't know how to ask anyway. So he kept his mouth shut and just patted the space beside him on the bed.

As Elliot approached him, Gilbert noticed that his face was much paler than usual. The poor boy looked exhausted and wide awake at the same time.

"I'm not getting under the sheet," Elliot scowled at him, pushing back some of the covers.

Gilbert scoffed and lay back down as Elliot climbed in beside him and rolled over to face the opposite wall.

But just before he turned his back, Gilbert finally got a good look into his eyes. The icy blue just wasn't the same as before. Where had the light gone? The light that coaxed Gil into having fun all those years ago?

Did it leave with his brothers? Had they still been here, Elliot would have surely taken refuge with one of them, rather than Gilbert. He watched the boy's back through the darkness. This tragedy took its toll on everyone, but it hit Elliot the hardest. His brothers were dead, his mother was mad, and Elliot was still here - on Earth, in reality, and in this room - and he needed help. Gilbert had to help him, to protect him. He couldn't be the damsel.

Poison. That's what Vince told him. Gilbert wondered how Vincent was the only one who hadn't been targeted, but then again, that didn't mean that it wouldn't happen soon. Vincent was safe for now, but Elliot... Elliot was in more danger than anyone else. Fred, Claude, and Ernest had been brutally murdered, leaving Elliot as the Nightray heir. Whoever was killing his family would surely come after him as well. So Gilbert needed to be here to protect him, right?

Or maybe... maybe Elliot wasn't the next target. Everyone else had been dispatched swiftly and silently, around the same time. The thought made Gilbert's skin crawl, but wouldn't Elliot be dead already if they intended for him to die?

I don't know what I would have done if someone had been hurt because of me.

Gilbert, on the other hand, would certainly be attacked again. He knew it. The first trial had been unsuccessful, so the killer would use a different method. Gilbert didn't want Elliot or Vincent to be there when his life was put in danger. He didn't want anyone to be there. He didn't want anyone to get caught in the crossfire. He knew what he had to do.

"Gilbert?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you."

Gil reached over and patted Elliot's shoulder. "What are brothers for?"

Gilbert made his decision and was successful. He managed to protect his brothers from afar as well as himself. And better still, his master returned. He'd accomplished everything he'd set out to do and was happy again.

But a more accurate statement would be that he was only happy in general, because currently, his head was throbbing. The remnants of a hangover hung about him as he sank down next to Oz on the sofa.

Gilbert listened as best he could through his headache as Oz retold all that he had missed during their recent visit to Ada's school. He couldn't believe so much had taken place in his absence, but reminded himself that there was one event in particular that he had been present for. He remembered it all very clearly. Oz had attempted to stomp on his head for spoiling his "dramatic moment" and Elliot had yelled at him and tried to slash him with a sword. Elliot. Gil was thrilled at being reunited with his brother, but Elliot had only seemed angry. Very angry.

He hadn't expected it at all, but it made sense. Of course Elliot was upset with him for leaving. Elliot had suffered alone, without any brothers to help him. Because all his brothers had left. Most of them died, and the only one that didn't never came back. Vincent was there, but he had never been much of a brother to Elliot, so his presence probably made little difference. After that, he could never be the same happy child he used to be.

Gilbert left when Elliot needed him, and that must have hurt. Maybe he really was just like Ernest, Fred and Claude. Had his decision really brought success?

Gilbert's attention was reigned back in near the end of Oz's story. There was something about the way Elliot reacted to Oz's selflessness that forced the raven to rethink himself. From what Gilbert had gathered, Elliot's actions were aggressive, but his reasoning was sound. He had seen past the guise of selflessness and stripped it down to its basic elements: fear and self-interest. It takes more than sagacity to reach such understanding. What is required is experience, and that experience will continue to shape his decisions for the rest of his life.

Hearing just how strong his brother had become, Gil hadn't a doubt in his mind that his actions had been for the best.

*A/N: This had nothing to do with the Head Hunter incident at the time that it was said. In general, doing work for Pandora was a way to protect the Nightray family, but Gil later applied it to himself. Just clarifying.

I hoped you liked it? Reviews make this self-conscious author feel competent (which leads to more fics)!