Title: The Secrets of the Signet

Rating: M, because of Lovino's damn potty mouth, Antonio's damn sexiness, and Lovino and Antonio's damn lovin'. Oh yeah, and because of Lovino and Antonio's damn awesome fighting moves.

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING – not Hetalia or any of its characters.

A/N : So this idea really came to me out of the blue! Like, out of the sky…it kind of just fell on me… But anyway! OH MY, I absolutely adore Lovino and Antonio, and since I can never have enough, I have decided to make another whole story with action, fighting, and sexiness with some of our favorite Hetalia characters. SO, read it, review it, and tell me if CHU enjoyed it! Oh yeah, and if any of you have any specific request for a little tidbit lovey dovey scenes for this story between Lovi and Toni, you can PM and I'll consider adding it in. :3

Prologue – The Kidnapping

America - Chicago, Illinois

July 12th, 1906

Afternoon

"Ahhh, the tomatoes this year are muy bello!" A Spaniard exclaimed near a vegetable stand, trapped among a throng of people in a dirty, overcrowded street marketplace. It was stuffy and humid, and the air smelled musty from the recent rain that occurred earlier that day, but that didn't stop the market from filling up with people and from carts and horses traveling down the smoggy roads. Rifling through both the edible and damaged tomatoes, the tanned Spaniard started to load whatever tomatoes into the basket he could and grinned when he imagined himself cooking up some dishes with them.

"Don't you think so?" he asked a slender girl with long wavy hair that was managing the stall. His eyes were shining in the afternoon light, and a light sheen of perspiration sat upon his skin in the oncoming heat of the afternoon. With his dress shirt sleeves rolled up and his jacket slung around his arm, he rifled through the tomatoes some more in search of the brightest and plumpest. A flush adorned his face, and the color brightened the tan complexion of his cheeks and complemented the soft, dark wavy hair he had.

"Of course, Antonio! I did grow them after all!" the girl responded with smiling eyes and a warm expression.

"I'll be buying a lot today, Elizabeta!"

"For Feliciano and Lovino?"

"Of course! Some for myself too, as always."

"Take as many as you need!"

"I will!"

Not far from the vegetable stall, in the side street market place, behind an extremely narrow alley stood two men in the shadows. From behind the bricks in the darkness, the two sets of eyes stared out into the busting market, searching in anticipation for the one man they had spent their last few months looking for. Slipping farther back into the alleyway, they sighed in frustration at the lack of turnout.

"I don't know why boss had to give us this job," a blonde muttered, crossing his arms while leaning against the wall in discomfort. "Kidnapping just isn't our thing…"

The alley had adequate cover being in that it was small and secluded from view, but both still squashed themselves against the brick in attempts to keep cover from the bazaar ahead. They had a good view from the market place there, but the afternoon sun was suffocating them between the overheated bricks and stagnant air.

"Y-you're right, Eduard," the blonde shivered. "I don't think we've ever kidnapped anyone…"

"Mmmm, do you think we'll find him today?"

"We have to, Raivis," Eduard muttered, pulling something out of his pocket and holding up a very detailed sketch of the Italian to make sure they really knew exactly who they were looking for. Both inspected the picture with scrutiny before slumping against the bricks again. Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Eduard grimaced at the amount of dirt and grime on his face.

"It's taking so long to find him, but we're close. Hopefully if we stand here long enough the Italian will show up."

"Do you, um, think the b-brother will be a problem?" Raivis asked with a tinge of apprehension laced in his voice.

"From what I've heard, no. It's this one we have to worry about." The blonde slipped a small frown to his smaller friend and glanced back from their position in the alley. "And from what boss has said, he's had a lot of training. Scary stuff, you know? He looks really scary! He used to be involved in the…" Eduard slowed his speech after stealing a quick glance to his companion. After seeing the color drain from the other's face, he promptly dropped the subject.

"Never mind, sorry for scaring you," the blonde sighed while adjusting his glasses.

Raivis swallowed until his mouth went dry. "B-but…what about that d-detective? He's famous around here and he's standing right over there! I-I mean, I know we're standing here because the I-Italian apparently visits this market every week, b-but… Should we, er, call boss about this? That detective might find us, a-and then, a-and then-!"

"Calm down!" Eduard gripped his smaller one's shoulder and drew him a little closer to stop the shaking.

"O-okay…"

"We have to wait. We don't want to accidentally tip off boss's enemy – he's got eyes and ears everywhere. He'd kidnap the Italian before we do. Besides, boss would kill us if we screw up, right?

A shaky nod from the little one indicated the unease he felt about the whole situation. Eduard patted his back slowly and shot him a sympathetic smile, even though he knew for sure his own hands would be shaking if he looked at them closely. He didn't pin himself as being brave, and certainly knew Raivis wasn't either, but he tried to put on a somewhat brave face for him, even if he knew it would all fall apart in the presence of real danger.

"Don't worry, this'll be over one day. We can't live like this forever, right?"

"Do we even know why boss wants him?

"Not really, but I guess it has to do with the bigger 'plan'?"

"I-I wish I knew what that was…"

"Me too, Raivis…"

"How's business anyway, Elizabeta?" Antonio asked casually, slipping one of his hands into his pockets as he observed the tomatoes. His basket filled up quickly, and the ripest tomatoes peeked out from the top of it, threatening to fall over the edge.

"Oh, you know! The same as always, except I'm planning to plant my, um, rye earlier this year. I hope it doesn't cause me too much trouble like the last harvest."

"Ah…really? I hope your harvest goes well!"

"It really will!"

"The vegetables are all bello as usual. Are you going to be staying in town for a few days?"

Hesitating with pursed lips, Elizabeta took more than a few seconds to respond. When she did, her eyes drove into Antonio's quietly but with purpose. "Ey, probably."

The two exchanged long looks without words for a moment before his eyes flickered back down to the tomatoes. "How's Lovino?" she asked with raised eyebrows and a slight smile.

"Ah, Lovi is so difficult as always! Dios mío, the kid is so reclusive and angry. Just the other day we were having some wine and he kicks me out of his house because I spoke about Feliciano!" With a huff later, he shrugged his shoulders with a 'what can you do?' expression.

"Too bad you haven't seen him when he smiles! Only for the ladies, as always."

"Don't talk about it!" Antonio fake cried, holding a hand over his chest in mock hurt. "Trying to get the kid to smile when he isn't trying to impress the chicas is like impossible."

"How long have you been friends now – one year?"

"Yeah, and he's still so fiery! I dunno what do sometimes. He needs to get a wife or something - you know, to keep his temper down. Anyway… have you heard?

"About what?"

"There's been a lot of unrest lately in and around Chicago, mi amiga. All about this Act just passed by congress* – it's been all over the print, you know?" He sighed a little and rubbed his hands through his wavy locks before paying more attention to the tomatoes in front of him again. "It's been a real shock to those companies. Not just the meat packing industry but even the drug industry."

"Nothing's been settled down ever since they cracked down on that. Good thing too." She folded her arms and looked off into the marketplace in contemplation.

"The newspapers have been selling like crazy. I've been having so many cases lately…"

"You know…I happened to hear something interesting about that the other day. It had something to do with these Patent Drugs and Russians and all, but I'm sure you're not too interested." She shrugged off his intrigue before glancing back to see a familiar glint in Antonio's eyes.

"And what was that?" Antonio asked, a hint of seriousness creeping into his usual cheery tone. Resting his basket down on the cart, he leaned forward with a raised eyebrow and a slow dark smile crept on his face in anticipation of unheard information.

"Maybe if you buy some more tomatoes," she began, a slight smirk creeping up on the corner of her lips to reflect his expression.

"As sneaky as always," he laughed suddenly, pulling back. Grabbing his basket again, he slipped some money onto the counter for payment of the tomatoes and turned away to walk off.

"I need to look after myself! I'm not even married yet, you know! It's tough!"

"Maybe another day - this is enough to last me awhile, mi amiga. Maybe I'll take some to Lovi, if I can."

"Say hello to Lovino for me!"

"Of course! Ah, too bad I won't be able to see him today! I'll be so busy with cases this week I won't have time to see him."

"Want me to check up on him?"

"No, no, he's got sweet Feli to keep him company! Besides, he would kill me if I let him know I was worried. I might just have time to see him tomorrow though. I wonder how long though?" As he began to walk off again, he muttered to himself about plans for tomorrow and his schedule, and has almost left the stall completely until Elizabeta called out to him.

"Hey, Antonio!"

"Ay?" Stopping in his tracks, he turned back slightly.

"I don't think that's what he needs."

"…Perdón?" he asked slowly, thinking back to the earlier conversation to decipher what she meant. Before she had even uttered the next few words, his eyebrows furrowed slightly and his face perplexed at the realization of what she was going to say.

"A wife, that is. I don't think that's what he needs." Shooting him a soft smile and wave, she turned back to focus on her business and to continue the rest of the market day selling tomatoes.

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other while looking down at the shiny tomatoes, Antonio rested a hand on his cheek for a moment and bit his lip. "…Ah, is that so?" he muttered before trekking off with his full basket of tomatoes.

From the alleyway where the two sat, they kept an eye on the Spaniard that was about to pass their hiding spot. They watched him hold conversation with a young lady at a vegetable stand, and observed around the market more for any sign on the Italian. When they noticed the Spaniard was on the move, and traveling dangerously close to where they were hiding, they tried the best they could to keep themselves concealed from his highly observant eyes. Of course, he was one of the best in the area, and no little thing to him went unnoticed, though it may seemingly have.

"He's really close, Eduard!" Raivis exclaimed frantically, the Spaniard only mere feet away from passing by.

"AH, he's going to pass right by here…Quick, get down before he sees us!"

"Why is he so close to the alley way?"

"I don't know, but get down!"

Eduard shot down farther into the alley's shadows behind some boxes and pinned Raivis in between him and the wall so as to minimize their visibility from the street. They held their breaths low and their bodies squashed against the brick tightly, but Eduard could still feel his heartbeat bursting out of his chest in fear. He wanted to flee, but knew it would only cause a ruckus. They shrunk against the heated bricks, and beads of sweat threatened to fall from both of their brows, and since they couldn't see, decided to remain that way for two minutes more to make sure he had gone. When they thought the detective finally passed by, just mere feet from spotting them, they slumped down to the ground together.

"D-do you think he noticed?"

"No, we've got some good cover behind these boxes. It's okay, you can stop shaking."

"I-I can't!" Tears threatened to spill over from his eyes, and he wiped them away sloppily with his shaking hands. Grabbing his shaking hand with the other, he attempted to calm it down, but it failed and soon his whole body was racked with nervous tremors.

"Don't cry – we've got to keep ourselves together," Eduard responded softly.

"No, E-Eduard, I c-can't! I don't want to do this a-anymore!"

"Raivis…"

"W-we should just run away! We'll be alright on our own…won't we? W-we have to-!"

"We can't, boss will find us. Come on, let's just keep looking and hope-"

"Hope what?" a voice from the shadows behind them spat. Suddenly, sweet, cold metallic dug into both of their temples, and both froze from the familiar smell of gunpowder filling the air. They sharply inhaled, and the metal dug further into each of their heads with force. Raivis began to sob.

"Too bad, Raivis, Eduard. You'll have to tell your boss that your enemy has already caught the Italian."

The only reaction the bigger blonde could get out before the butt of the gun was brought heavily down on his head was, "scary!" Soon after the gunman brought it down on the smaller blonde as well, and both men slumped to the ground heavily. The man from the shadows smiled slightly from his handiwork, and spun his guns around his fingers in contemplation.

The gun wielder looked at the two unconscious bodies before licking his dry lips in satisfaction and holstering his guns. Glancing up from the shadow of the alleyway to for a moment, his eyes narrowed when they clashed with green ones unexpectedly. The piercing green was calculating, as if reaching past the inner workings of his mind. He paid them no real attention, however, for he was unsure if they were actually looking at him or just at the market stand that was mere feet from the alley way. It didn't matter, however, because those Hungarian eyes soon disappeared to look back at a customer near the stand.

Releasing a held in breath, the gun wielder continued with his operation quickly in tying up the two he had knocked out. Just as he was almost finished, a voice from the darkness behind him spoke up loudly.

"Jeez, take forever, why don't you? This one give me a lot of trouble!"

Another man stepped out of the shadows, dragging along with him a small tied up Italian by a rope. Battered and beaten, the Italian squeaked after being handled along the jagged cobblestone beneath him, and tears flowed from his black, blue, and puffy eyes as he struggled to break free from the tough binding. Writhing in the painful grip, but managing to bite off the cloth covering his mouth, he tried to shout for help to the streets. All that came out was a desperate rasp. He tried once more, but nothing came out, and silent sobs churned in the back of his throat, unheard. The one holding the rope sent him a quick jab in the gut to shut him up, and he spit up onto the street.

"W-why?" the beaten Italian asked the best he could.

"You know why. Now shut up!" the guy responded, kicking him once again.

"Big brother 'Toni!" the Italian cried weakly before his eyesight vanished and he began to dip into unconsciousness.

"Haha, he can't hear you," the other teased, prodding and kicking the beat up Italian with his foot. "Look, he already gone! Ha, you so stupid! And your voice so stupid, too!"

"Shut up, do you want to get us discovered?" the one with the guns interjected angrily. "And stop kicking him around – we can't have him too beat up!"

"We should really leave. Jeez, you took so long."

With more mumblings, the gun wielder slipped back into the shadows and dragged the two unconscious bodies back with him. His companion laughed and joined him, dragging the limp Italian along like a rag doll.

A/N :

* Here Antonio is referring to the Pure Food and Drug Act of June 30th, 1906. If you want to know more, the interwebz has a ton of information about it.

I hope you liked it! If ya did, please review 'cause I like to know what I can improve on and what might need to be fixed or considered for next time. Reviews also fuel the flames of creativity and inspiratioooon~! :D Love you guys…..Antonio does too. OH ANTONIO…you know you look good in those suspenders.

Adios amigos!