Jeez.
Seriously, Gilbert was such a lazy bastard.
He couldn't even deposit his own checks.
So Ludwig had to go do it for him.
Literally, the bank was right across the street!
How could you be THAT lazy?
He grumbled as he stood in the crowded line, and looked in front of him.
There were only a few people left.
It wasn't too bad.
Still he had to get to work in like 30 minutes.
And if he was late to his shift, Chief was going to be pissed as fuck.
Well he didn't like being late, but he could always call Alfred to cover for a few minutes.
But, then again, Alfred was way too honorable for his own good, and probably wouldn't do it.
That was a good trait for a cop.
He himself was a good cop too, but he was willing to punch in a late co-worker.
Eh, Elizabeta would probably do it if he asked nicely.
He stepped forward as the line moved and sighed.
Oh my God, why hadn't he just told Gilbert to get off his lazy ass and do it himself, he was going to be late..
He wasn't even in uniform..
He picked at his fingernails, when suddenly, a large BANG was heard from outside.
Some people audibly gasped, while others just ignored it.
However Ludwig's eyes dilated, and his head snapped upwards towards the large windows.
A gunshot.
His hand automatically reached for his own gun, when he suddenly remembered it was at home.
With his uniform.
Leaving him pretty much defenseless right now.
Shit.
His worst fears were confirmed as two masked people kicked the doors open, both holding guns.
"EVERYBODY DROP TO THE GROUND RIGHT NOW!"
Ludwig's heart clenched in fear for the people around him, as he immediately dropped to the floor.
Him, and everybody around him were hostages.
If they were smart, they would just do what they were told.
People rarely ever shoot obedient hostages.
"Hey what do you fuckers think you're doing?!"
Oh my God.
He looked up nervously, and found a young man, about 20 years old, with dark brown hair and a tan complexion to be the only person standing besides the robbers.
One of the people with a gun, (who's figure could be a woman's now that Ludwig was looking closer) turned towards him, and without a warning, shot him in the knee.
Ludwig bit his lip, as he saw the boy go pale for a fraction of a second, and then crumple to the ground screaming.
The other hostages started stirring, but were quickly silenced with another gun shot, this time upwards.
Except for one.
"LOVINO! OH MY GOD! NO, PLEASE PLEASE!"
A similar looking man, but paler, and with auburn hair got up and went running to the man who'd just gotten shot, the man, apparently called Lovino shouted back.
"SHIT FELICIANO YOU FUCKING DUMBASS THEY'LL SHOOT YOU TOO."
Feliciano kept running (Loyalty, another trait Ludwig admired) and kneeled down next to Lovino, grabbing him in a hug and sobbing.
The same woman, cocked her gun, and aimed towards Feliciano.
Feliciano heard the gun, and started sobbing even louder as he stared death in the face.
Ludwig realized that if he acted now, he could probably save this man's life.
So he did.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Ludwig picked himself off the floor, and leaned on the line's railing.
Very quickly, both guns were aimed at him.
He merely chuckled and continued.
"I don't know about you, but if I came to rob a bank, I'd want as little blood on my hands as possible."
The same woman who shot Lovino tsked and asked
"Why exactly is that?"
"Well, first lets start with some introductions. I'm Officer Beilschmidt. Although, considering the fact that I'm unarmed, I'm just Ludwig for now."
He paused and after a few seconds of tense silence, kept going.
"You see, hostages are precious, if you promise to release every single hostage unharmed, then the force will give you anything you want. But..You've already severely injured one, not to mention, if I hadn't stopped you, you would've killed another. The police wouldn't be very happy."
The other gun wielder (who's gun had been starting to lower) replied gruffly
" So, what you're saying is. We give them everybody alive, then we get away scott free?"
"At least with my experience, yes."
The same person turned to the woman and shouted
"No more shooting unless they're acting up, got it?"
She sighed, but lowered her gun.
"Alright Hera."
"ALLTHE HOSTAGES THAT AREN'T BANK EMPLOYEES. GATHER IN A CIRCLE IN THE MIDDLE. EVERYBODY WHO IS AN EMPLOYEE, STAND UP, AND LEAD US TO THE VAULT."
Ludwig, cleared his throat, causing everybody to look at him yet again
"I'd suggest the hostages gather around the young man who just got shot, considering the fact he can't be moved in this state."
The two thieves glanced at each other, the woman nodded so the man yelled out again
"GATHER AROUND THE MAN WHO WAS SHOT. ANYBODY WHO GETS UP AFTER THAT WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT."
The hostages ran to where Lovino was, as the Thieves grabbed the employees and went to the vault. Ludwig sighed, walked over, and sat on Lovino's other side to inspect the wound, while his brother talked to the person next to him.
There was clearly a lot of blood loss, and from the looks of it, he had maybe been shot in the kneecap.
"B-Bastard..."
Ludwig slowly turned his head towards Lovino, his eyes were half lidded, and he had already started sweating.
"Me?!"
"Y-Yeah..You...You gave me a speeding ticket..."
Ludwig quirked an eyebrow and chuckled, actually remembering that instance, because Lovino had been swearing like a madman.
"Sorry about that.."
"It's okay...I've got a bullet in my knee, I have bigger things to worry about."
"How does it feel."
"Like the devil's taken up residence in my entire body."
Suddenly, Feliciano, grabbed his brother's neck and shook it
"Lovi! This guy says he's a doctor!"
All three of them glanced at the small asian man with black hair, waiting for him to speak up.
" I'm Kiku Honda. I believe I can at the very least take the bullet out."
"This is going to hurt like a bitch won't it?"
Kiku nodded grimly then turned to Ludwig.
"Please Ludwig, hold him down for me."
Ludwig did as he was told, and was about to ask how he knew his name, when he remembered how he'd saved Feliciano.
Said Feliciano had one hand on his Brother's heart, and was muttering what sounded like prayers.
Ludwig sighed, and looked Lovino sternly in the face, who replied by weakly sticking his tongue out.
"Alright Lovino, brace yourself."
He hissed in pain, but clenched his eyes shut.
"One...Two..."
"Three."
The reaction was immediate.
His eyes snapped open, and he started screaming again, saliva spilling out of his mouth, and tears going down his face.
Ludwig set his jaw, and pressed down on Lovino's arms harder, as he started to try and thrash about.
Feliciano started to cry again, and muttered his prayers quicker.
All while Kiku slowly tried to pick out the bullet.
Halfway through, Lovino let out one last spine chilling scream, after which, his eyes rolled up, then closed, and his jaw went slack.
Feliciano jumped and starting screaming
"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD YOU KI-"
"Mr. Feliciano. Please relax. He's not dead, the pain knocked him unconscious, it was too much to bare, and it's honestly better like this."
Feliciano's eyes widened a bit, but he otherwise nodded in understanding.
As Kiku continued on his pursuit to pick out the bullet, Ludwig sat back down, and noticed Feliciano quietly staring at him.
Ludwig quirked an eyebrow
"Yes..?"
"Nothing, just...You saved me...Thank you"
Ludwig blushed softly and replied
"It's my job...I couldn't have let another person get hurt.."
"But they could've shot you too..."
"All in a days work honestly."
Feliciano sighed, and stared at his brother's face.
"Can you scoot over...? I wanna sit next to you, and Lovino..."
Ludwig shrugged and did as he was asked, Feliciano, looking around for the thieves, and when he didn't find them, quickly got up, stepped over his brother, and sat back down.
Feliciano looked up at Ludwig, and offered a weak smile, Ludwig returning it.
"You know...It's nice to know not all cops are big meanies who like giving tickets."
Ludwig laughed softly and replied
"Let me guess, you've gotten a speeding ticket?"
Feliciano shook his head and made a 'why' gesture
"Three! All by the same person! Some short, blonde haired guy!"
"Green eyes?"
"Yes!"
"Eh, that's Vash for you. He's a bit of a stickler."
Feliciano pouted, and brought his knees up to his chest, keeping a hand over his brother's heart.
"You know...I just got him back...I can't lose him again..."
Ludwig looked at both of them with concern.
"What do you mean?"
Feliciano sighed, and looked at the floor.
"When I was 10, and he was 12, our father died. And our mother killed herself out of grief...My legal guardian was my Grandfather, who lives in New York...His legal guardian was our cousin Antonio, in Florida. At our last meeting, we promised each other that when we were both grown up, we'd both move here, to Norton, Virginia. I turned 21 a few weeks ago, and I got accepted to the University of Virginia.."
He paused and bit his lip, tears leaking out of his eyes
"If you don't want to keep going..."
"It's fine, it's fine.."
He took a deep breath and continued
"I got here about three weeks ago, and I found him at the post office. Turns out, we were both asking about each others addresses. But, he'd been asking about me for almost three years...I hadn't seen him in years, and I wasn't even sure it was him...I shouted his name.. Then when he turned around, he just, looked so happy...We ran towards each other and hugged in the middle of the post office...Now we've been living together, and..."
Feliciano sobbed and started wiping his face with his hand.
Ludwig quietly took out a handkerchief and gave it to him.
He smiled wiped his eyes, and blew his nose into it.
"You can keep it."
"Thank you so much Ludwig."
Ludwig gave a nervous look towards the vault, when suddenly he felt Feliciano leaning on him.
He looked back in alarm, and Feliciano jumped up, blurting out an apology.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm just really scared, and yo-"
"It's fine Feliciano.."
Feliciano smiled and leaned into Ludwig again.
Ludwig hesitated, but put his arm around the tiny man.
"So what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you have a story Ludwig..?"
He glanced outside, and quietly noticed the first squad cars starting to arrive.
Thank God, his colleagues had been alerted.
"Well...I don't have parents. And according to my brother, Gilbert, we were pretty much circling around in the foster care system. In one of the homes, the Father was a pretty violent guy, so he knocked me to the floor, and I smacked my head against a cabinet."
Ludwig sighed and weakly snapped his fingers
"Just like that, an entire childhood gone."
Feliciano gasped and used his free hand to cover his mouth
"I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright. I don't really miss it considering the fact it wasn't all that great. So, Gilbert, who's 5 years older, got out of the system when I was 13. And the next day he was gone. I was..I was so mad at him. I thought he'd left me. I walked around angry at everybody for maybe a year or so. Then one day, I get to my new foster home, and there's the brother I hated. He had been getting certified to be my legal guardian. We've been together for a few years..But...I'm always criticizing him.."
Ludwig shuddered and spoke softer
"I'm a police officer, and he's a volunteer firefighter.. Someday, something horrible is going to happen to one of us, and the other is going to regret it so fucking much..."
He stared at the floor in silence, then he felt Feliciano's hand on top of his.
"We're going to make it through this. All of us."
Feliciano patted his brother's heart and whimpered
"He's included in that. The worst is, maybe he'll need to be amputated."
He wiped his face with the snotty handkerchief and sniffed.
Ludwig noticed the frightening silence, and decided to speak up
"So..What're you studying?"
Feliciano perked up a bit at the question
"I'm going to be a chef!"
"So, you're majoring in cooking?"
"Yep! And Lovino's in his last year of english! He wants to write a book!"
"What's it about?"
"He tells me it's a thrilling adventure novel...But I sneaked into his room and read some pages...Honestly looks more like a romance."
Ludwig laughed softly, and Feliciano leaned into him a bit more.
Their peace was interrupted by the thieves one again barging into the room. This time, toting bags full of cash.
The man swore as he noticed the cops already situated outside, the woman simply grabbed her gun.
Ludwig gave a soft cough
"Now that they can see you guys in here with us. They'll most likely ca-"
He was interrupted by the bank's telephone ringing.
The two went to go get it, and Feliciano had buried his face into Ludwig's jacket, Ludwig started to softly pat his back and whisper
"Feliciano, it's all going to be fine...Please don't cry. You'll get their attention.."
He felt Feliciano nod in his jacket, and Ludwig released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
The woman walked over to the hostages with the phone in her hand, her gun in the other.
He heard Kirkland over the phone
"Hello there ."
"Cut the crap."
"We need to know the conditions of the civilians."
"There's about 30 of them. I've only shot one. Non fatal. He'll live."
Ludwig growled as Kiku quietly placed the bullet in his hand.
"Oh, and we've got one of your own in here."
A pause from Kirkland. Probably checking through all the officers to see who was missing.
"Is it Officer Beilschmidt?"
"Yep."
"Is he unarmed."
Ludwig sighed and yelled
"Do you think I'd be in this situation if I was armed."
She aimed her gun at him, but continued to speak.
"So I don't suppose you'll let us walk out of here with all this money, will you?"
"I'm willing to make a deal."
"Do tell."
Ludwig bit his lip, and squeezed Feliciano's hand.
This was it.
If they made the right deal. Nobody else would have to get hurt.
"We're willing to drop the robbery charges if you let everybody go."
She quirked an eyebrow and replied
"What about the other charges.."
"Well, you have injured somebody an-"
She suddenly stepped into the circle of hostages, and glanced at all of them.
Smirking, she grabbed Feliciano's arm, dragged him away from Ludwig, pulled him up, and pressed the gun to his head.
"This is what I think of your little deal."
Feliciano started to cry, the horrible noise rasping at Ludwig's ears, as he realized, this was probably the most scared he'd ever been in his life.
"No, don't! We can work out ano-"
"Either I get away with no charges and all the money. Or everybody in here will get a bullet in their brain. Starting with this kid."
Arthur started to stutter, and Ludwig sighed.
He knew what he had to do.
"Shoot me first."
He got up from the floor as she faced him, ignoring Feliciano's sobbing pleas
"Excuse me..?"
"I said. Shoot me first."
He glared down at her, nothing but contempt in his face.
She gave him a mocking smile, and pushed Feliciano to the floor, then grabbed Ludwig, twisting his arm behind his back, and pressing the gun to his head.
"Well Officer, I do believe the stakes have risen."
"Beilschmidt! What the hell are you thinking?!"
Ludwig tuned them all out, and watched a sniffling Feliciano pick himself up.
"Arthur.. I'll die myself before anybody in here gets hurt."
Kirkland sighed, while the robber simply laughed.
"Nobility. What a putz. Being an honest person gets you nowhere in life."
"It'll get you to the places that matter."
He felt the pressure of her gun get a bit slack as she readjusted the phone.
Now was his chance.
He quickly used his free arm to grab the gun, then used her shock to break free from her grip, finally aiming the gun at her.
He heard Kirkland cheer from the phone, but he knew it wasn't over yet.
The other man still had a gun, but he was back in the vault.
He aimed the gun upward and fired a shot.
"IS EVERYTHING OKAY?"
He came running out, his eyes widening once he realized who was holding the gun.
"If you hand over your gun now. I won't have to hurt you."
The man walked over to Ludwig with his hands to his sides, looking down.
Expecting it be easy, Ludwig lowered his gun.
Only to hear a sharp bang, and have his left shoulder set on fire.
Even with the pain searing through his body, he brought his gun back up, and decided to get this over with, right now.
One shot to the knee, and down he went.
Ludwig sighed and walked over to the man picking up his gun, then taking the phone from the woman's hands
"Beilschimdt, what the hell was that?!"
"Well. I got shot. But it's safe now, so send in paramedics for me, the guy I just shot, and Lovino."
"Lovino?"
"Guy who got shot in the knee"
Arthur made a noise of understanding, and started yelling out orders.
He hung up the phone and put it down, then offered a hand to Feliciano, a sobbing shivering mess, sitting on the floor.
Feliciano took it, and Ludwig pulled him up the best he could, still holding on to his hand.
"See, I knew we'd all be fine."
Feliciano's eyes widened, and Ludwig started chuckling
"YOU JUST GOT SHOT, MY BROTHER JUST GOT SHOT, AND I'M GOING TO NEED THERAPY FOR LIFE."
"Eh relax, it's only my shoulder. Your Brother might have a bigger problem though."
Paramedics barged in, along with a couple of cops.
One of the cops went to go arrest the women, while paramedics and cops started storming around Ludwig for a couple of minutes.
"OH MY GOD, are you okay?!"
"That was so fucking stupid!"
"You were totally a hero man!"
"Shut it Alfred, he was just doing his job!"
Ludwig groaned, and suddenly held on to his shoulder.
"Shit. Guys leave, adrenaline's wearing off."
Soon he was surrounded by nothing but a few paramedics, noticing with a clench of his heart, Feliciano was gone.
That's okay..
I mean, why would he stick around?
He put his hand in his pocket, only to find a sheet of paper that hadn't been there before, he noticed it was a bank envelope, then pulled it out and unfolded it.
'Ciao Ludwig! It's me, Feliciano! I decided to leave this note, because you know, you're busy with your friends and your wound and all, not to mention, I need to go with Lovi in the ambulance. So basically, I just decided I wanted to thank you again, for being my rock when I needed one. And you know, for putting yourself in harms way like. Twice. Can we meet up for coffee at Lilli's diner? 2:00 tomorrow! Wait, you might still be in the hospital...I'll just visit you there!
See ya soon!
Feliciano Vargas'
Ludwig chuckled and folded the paper back up, as he was helped into the stretcher.
His life had just gotten a lot more interesting, hadn't it?
OMFG I LOVE GERITA HAVE I TOLD ANYBODY THIS AT ALL. Just like frying pangle, all I need is an EXCUSE. And I will happily write you a one shot. Also, this is pretty much, maybe to inspire? I dunno, personally I see one more high school AU I'm throwing my laptop out the window. Not that there's anything wrong with them just...There are just SO MANY. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! If you want me to post the next chapter (no set date for it, because I'm going on vacation this weekend) I'll need at least 10 reviews. BYE GUYS LOVE YA