She was his everything.

Nobody, not even Ludwig himself, could even compare. Gilbert loved her with all his heart. She made him feel good. Whatever he wanted, she gave to him. He spent every waking moment with her. They went everywhere together. Some might call it devotion; others, obsession. To Ludwig, it was all the same—unhealthy attention.

At times Ludwig would walk downstairs to find them together, even in the ungodly hours of the night that blended with the light of the early dawn. She was his drug. If he couldn't spend time with her, if he was denied time with her, he would lash out in a rage even towards his own family.

And so Ludwig left it alone. He would give stern glances and click his tongue disapprovingly, but he knew nothing could separate them. Even when Roderich once forbade them from seeing each other after he had seen the bills sky-rocket from their late-night sessions together, Gilbert still found a way to be with her. The Prussian was lucky to have such accommodating friends, although Francis and Antonio have also expressed mild concerns in the past, too.

But as he was—jobless, a man wandering without a country, and remembered only by the dying generation—who had the right to take from him his last true joy?

No one.

But that didn't stop them.

It happened on a night that wasn't significantly different from any other night. In fact, one might rightfully have called it part of his routine, mundane schedule. Everything played out exactly as it had the previous night. Gilbert was with her, experienced hands knowing just the right strokes to excite a reaction from her; filling her up till she was feverish with heat.

And that's when it happened. It happened so fast he scarcely believed it did. But when he was aware again, the damage had already been done. He hated himself. While she was torn away from him and violated violently, ruthlessly, carelessly till she completely blanked out, he just sat there. They were fast, too fast.

He didn't know who they were, but that didn't matter now.

Gilbert did his best to revive her, to take her to a doctor so she could be properly examined. However, the doctor's finds only devastated him further; not only was she delirious and damaged; now she was riddled with viruses. They were infecting her all over, destroying her from the inside out. The doctor tried to cure her, but there was only so much that could be done. At best, she was kept from being cold and silent forever, but she would often remain awake for only limited amounts of time. The moments when she would stay awake long enough for more full examinations were rare.

Still, Gilbert wouldn't give up. He spent all his money to try to cure her. He couldn't let her die, not the one he told all his secrets to, not the one he relied so much on, not the one who encouraged both the best and worst in him. What would he do without her?

When his own funds ran out, he begged others for loans. Any little bit helped. More than a few questioned why he didn't just forget her and find another, and to them he only offered stony, cold looks before proceeding to find another who could help him. Not many would; even Antonio had to refuse since he himself had his own finances and problems to worry about.

Despite his efforts, her condition only worsened as time passed.

Desperate, he finally sought out the one person he trusted could cure her. He was Gilbert's last hope. If she couldn't be cured by that man's hand, then all hope would truly be lost. After feverish pleas, he finally agreed to do all he could to help her, but under the condition that he worked alone and was allowed to do anything to cure her. Gilbert agreed, and thus began his period of waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Until finally he got the call two weeks later.

Without hesitation, Gilbert rushed to see her. He waited at the door, his anxiety only accentuating the sleep-depraved pale white hue his skin watered down to from worry. The moment the door opened, his heart leapt to his throat, choking all sounds from him.

He was greeted with tired eyes adorned with purple rings. Gilbert's heart gave a painful thump upon seeing the frown, but it slowly relaxed when the frown shifted ever so gently into a smile.

And then those words he longed to hear to the point of dreaming of them every night.

"All viruses have been quarantined and cleaned from the system; any trace amounts have been properly eliminated. I also managed to salvage the contents of your harddrive. Since you looked like you've been through a lot, I optimized your system and improved its performance while I was at it—free of charge."

Gilbert was ecstatic. He glomped Eduard with all his might and shouted and cried out of pure unadulterated joy.

After he had simmered from his high enough to stop choking the poor man, he demanded of him the identity of the people who had done this to her. The ones who dared infect his precious operating system.

Eduard couldn't pinpoint their identity exactly, but the extent of the damage as well as the severe yet rudimentary and almost crudely-crafted style of attack gave him an inkling, though this he kept to himself. Unproven accusations helped no one.

So, Gilbert returned home, hugging his laptop the entire way, until he could settle back on the couch and tap out his 'Return-to-the-Net' post on his blog. He received a comment scarcely a minute after his post was published.

sunflowerbliss said 'Ufufufu~! Welcome back! You were gone for so long, I thought you had died~ but it seems something else almost met its untimely death during your absence! Too bad.'

To which he replied, 'Ja. But everything's back to normal now.'

'Mmmmmmmm too bad,' sunflowerbliss continued, 'too bad, too bad. But whatever. There are other ways, I suppose!'

'What ways?' Confused reply.

A pause.

'For an inanimate object to be said to be the height of your attention and affection, that doesn't seem very fair, does it?

Don't worry.

I'll find other ways.'

And before Gilbert had enough time to absorb the meaning of that comment, sunflowerbliss went offline.

A/N: Who here guessed who the mysterious 'lady' was before they reached the end? Show of hands—no cheating now.

Anyway, don't ask what spawned this, even I don't know. Maybe a mix of seeing one too many 'I'VE BEEN HACKED' forum posts and how some people treat their computers like living objects—although they do exhibit some personality when they won't do what you ask them to do or act all tsundere and won't run quickly when you want them to. Whoooo knows.

Rate and review! Thanks for reading!