Disclaimer: Hetalia belongs to Himaruya Hidekazu. The plot of this AU belongs to myself and theartisserie.

"What it takes for a world of chaos to be redeemed is one, bright mind that is willing to change it…"

o

Matthias Køhler slammed his forehead on his table with a loud bang, only to immediately straighten his back with his eyes wide open. He took in a few annoyed looks from his classmates and he mouthed a quiet, 'Sorry' in response. His lecturer didn't seem to notice as he continued to ramble on about something to do with working in teams and mechanics.

Doing an engineering degree was one of the most challenging things Matthias had ever done in his life. But to say he didn't love it would be a lie. He just would have preferred it if he had gotten the right amount of sleep the night before.

His friend sent him a concerned look. 'Another late night?'

Matthias smiled and then rubbed his eyes. 'Yeah. You could say that.'

'Seriously Matthias, you need sleep!' his friend whispered harshly, careful not to be too loud. 'This isn't good for you.'

'I'm fine, Ludwig,' Matthias told him. He suppressed a yawn. 'I'm going to bed earlier tonight anyway.'

Ludwig snorted. 'Ja, that's what you said yesterday too.' He shook his head. 'I honestly wonder what it is you do every night in order to stay up so late, because I know it's not because of studying.'

Matthias opened his mouth to argue only to shut it again when he realised that he didn't have a proper reason to deny his statement. 'Nothing important,' he muttered, blinking wearily.

He saw Ludwig narrow his eyes at him. He waited a moment before saying very quietly and with a small blush on his face, 'You aren't… fucking around, are you?'

Matthias, taken back at the question, spluttered, 'What? What does that even—' When it hit him, his eyes went round and his face turned bright red. 'Dude, what the fuck? Do I look like someone who does that kind of thing?'

'I don't know!' Ludwig mouthed, clearly embarrassed for asking. 'You don't exactly hold back when it comes to your preference…'

'Oi, just because I've had a few partners over the years doesn't mean I just… sleep around whenever I feel like it,' he grumbled, very much affronted and lips pursed in a pout.

'I didn't think so, but you're being very secretive as to what you were up to last night,' Ludwig retorted and Matthias repressed a scream.

'Why do you want to know so badly?'

'Because I'm your friend and I worry about you!'

Matthias sighed and ran his hands through his hair, wincing when he tugged against a particularly knotty part. He didn't have time to sort it out this morning before the lecture started, unlike Ludwig with his perfectly slicked back, blond hair. What a start to the day.

Looking at Ludwig, Matthias smiled softly. He had gotten to know Ludwig quite well over the past year, having met as first years, and this certainly wasn't the first time he had chastised Matthias over the same issue. Matthias found it rather amusing to see someone who was big and bulky, with a gruff voice and an intimidating façade most times become a flushed, overprotective mess over a little thing as someone not getting enough sleep. Matthias was grateful for his concern, even more so for his friendship. Ludwig Beilschmidt was definitely an interesting character, one Matthias was sure he was going to remain friends with for a lifetime… Even with his annoying habit of being extremely nosy and over-the-top. Not that he did it intentionally, Matthias knew that. It was just in that crazy German's nature.

'I appreciate it, Lu,' he said, rubbing his forehead, 'but seriously, I'm fine.'

Before Ludwig could say anything more, they saw the rest of their class begin to pack their things and leave the lecture hall. Matthias glanced down at his empty notebook and groaned inwardly at the fact that he had a lot of catching up to do. Ludwig looked at him, sighed for the millionth time that morning, then said, 'I'll give you the notes that I managed to take down on one condition: you start taking care of yourself… This, what you are doing now, is not good for your health.'

Matthias grinned at his friend. 'I'll do my best, and thank you so much, you're a pal.'

Ludwig grumbled as he looked at his own notes. 'There's no way you'd be able to read these… and I didn't get the last few minutes' worth down… Verdammt.'

'Well, it's better than getting nothing down,' Matthias muttered, frowning. 'Why did I even bother coming today?'

'Hey guys!'

Both of them lifting their heads towards the owner of the voice, Matthias' and Ludwig's solemn faces brightened when they saw their fellow engineer approaching them. She was one of the few women who did the course, if not the smartest out of all of them, men included, who did it. She was shorter and slighter than both of them, but was similar in the regard that she was blonde. Her green eyes sparkled as they settled on the two men.

'I heard someone had notes missing?' she continued, her lips up in a challenging smile.

'Hey Anne,' Ludwig greeted, his face going pink when her words sunk into his mind. 'And uh, yeah, we were discussing things—'

'Yeah, I heard you guys talking,' Anne said, eyeing them furtively. 'I heard someone had a rough night.'

When Matthias scowled heavily, she let out a laugh, her shoulders shaking. She took out her notebook from her bag and waved it in front of them. 'I have all the notes from today and I am willing to share them with you two because you are my good engineering buddies. Shall we meet up tomorrow to sort them out?'

'Anne… I love you,' Matthias whispered, causing her to shake her head at him, albeit with a grin. 'But yeah, we can meet up!'

'Does four at that café down the road sound good to you guys?' she suggested, eyebrow raised.

Ludwig and Matthias agreed, and proceeded to thank Anne repeatedly for her help. Packing their things, the three left the lecture hall and wandered into the corridor. After saying goodbye to Anne and Ludwig, and promising he'd go to bed earlier that night, Matthias weaved through the crowded halls of the building in the direction of the dormitories. He planned to take a nice, long nap. Ludwig was right about one thing: he definitely needed more sleep.

Thankful for not having any other major commitments that day, Matthias climbed up the many stairs of the dormitory building. He was not exactly willing to squish into the overflowing elevator. When he reached the second floor, he heard a series of shouts and banging of doors, and angry voices going down the hallway. Peeking around the corner, he held back a laugh when he saw a teenage boy, his eyebrows furrowed deeply, standing in front of a closed door. The angry voices came from the other residents on the same floor, and the teenager scowled heavily at them with a red face.

'What do you expect from me?' he yelled. 'I am locked out of my own dorm and my stupid roommate isn't letting me in!'

'Well fucking try to keep the noise down!' one resident hollered, clearly not impressed. The teenager rolled his eyes and knocked on the door hard.

'You right there, Emmy?' Matthias asked the boy, trying not to smile as he approached him.

Emmy, or rather Emil, looked at Matthias with an irritated expression on his face. 'Does it look like I'm alright? My roommate is deaf as fuck and I've got the entire floor biting my head off!—and don't call me 'Emmy', idiot!'

Smirking, Matthias ruffled Emil's pale blond hair, who protested loudly at the action. Emil Steilsson was an eighteen year old in his first year of university. Matthias had known him for two years and he was surprised to see how much he had grown up in that time. He saw Emil as a little brother, though the younger male would probably disagree and call him an idiot if he ever said it out loud.

'Have you tried his mobile?' Matthias asked him, pointing to Emil's jeans' pocket.

'I tried calling him, texting him, even banging on this bloody door and nothing!' Emil cried, and then groaned into his hands. 'What am I going to do?'

'You can always come upstairs for a bit, until he gets back,' Matthias offered. 'We'd be happy to let you stay for a bit.'

'Nah… I'll be okay…' Emil muttered, looking at his shoes. 'Don't want to be a bother.'

'You're sure?' Matthias asked him, genuinely worried. 'You wouldn't be a bother—you're a good boy,' he added, squeezing one of his cheeks.

After mumbling out a curse, Emil nodded. 'Lukas would never let me hear the end of it.'

Matthias cracked a grin. Lukas was Emil's step-brother. The teenager couldn't quite accept the fact that they were officially so, given that his father and Lukas' mother had gotten married a year ago. With that authorised notion, Lukas was looking for every opportunity to use his "big brother responsibilities" as he called it, much to Emil's displeasure.

He slapped a hand on Emil's shoulder. 'It's open if you change your mind. You can do your Physics stuff there in peace.'

'Thanks Matt…' He sent Matthias a small smile as he slid down his door and pulled out his phone. 'I'll keep myself entertained for the time being…'

Matthias shook his head at the strangeness of Emil's attitude, but left him to his own devices with a brief wave as he made his way back to the staircases. If there was one thing he hated, it was climbing stairs. Much to his relief, he made it to the fourth floor in no time, digging around in his pockets for his keys as he walked up to his and Lukas' dormitory. Opening the dormitory door, Matthias almost screamed out loud when he came face-to-face with a pair of navy eyes. His eyes widened and his heart leapt at his ribcage at the close proximity. He yelped out, 'Jesus Christ Lukas!' as a response.

Lukas gaped at him in apparent alarm, but his expression softened when he bent down to tie his shoelaces. 'Sorry… but I can't talk right now, I'm running late.'

'Again? Your professor's not going to be happy with you…'

'I know that!' Lukas grumbled, racing back into their living room and stuffing his books into his bag. 'I slept in… I was having such a nice dream too…'

Glancing at the clock, Matthias laughed. 'Yeah, that's one hell of a sleep in, Luke—it's past one!'

'Shut up, you moron,' was the reply Matthias got and he couldn't help but let out another laugh.

'If you have time, can you do the shopping? We're running out of food,' said Lukas, as he checked his appearance in the bathroom mirror before coming out. 'I've made a list—it's on the table.'

'Yeah sure.' Just as Lukas made his way to go out, Matthias looked down and saw that Lukas' set of keys were still in the bowl by the door. 'Honey, you forgot your keys!' Matthias sang, giggling at the glare that Lukas sent his way.

'Don't even,' Lukas warned, grabbing the keys that dangled from Matthias' fingers. 'Thank you… I'll see you later.' With that, Lukas bolted out of the door and ran down the corridor, trying in vain to get one arm into his jacket sleeve as he went down the first set of stairs.

Shutting the door slightly, Matthias chuckled at his roommate's actions. Ah… nothing's changed, has it? Matthias had known Lukas Bondevik for almost fifteen years, having met when they were little five year olds in kindergarten. Their friendship had followed them into university and Matthias grinned at Lukas' habit of sleeping in, a trait that had developed when they had hit the later years of high school.

Walking over to the coffee table, Matthias picked up the small list Lukas had made, grabbed his wallet and car keys, and made his way out of the room. Might as well get it over and done with, he thought. Then I can sleep…

As he made his way through the dormitory building again, checking in on Emil as he passed the second floor, only to find him in the same spot as he left him in, Matthias read over the list. He shook his head at the copious amount of coffee Lukas wanted him to get. He has a serious addiction…

A cold blast of air hit him when he got out of the building. It was rather chilly that day, despite the sun shining down and there being hardly any cloud cover. Matthias zipped up his jacket and went towards the car park. As he walked past a couple of to-be interns, he heard them discussing something rather seriously with grave expressions on their faces.

'Yeah, I heard they're getting out of control…'

'I heard that as well… I also heard on the news that they're causing even more havoc than usual.'

'We should just get rid of them! Who needs bloody supers anyway? It's not like they're any use to the population, are they?'

Matthias felt his blood begin to boil, and he was in two minds whether or not to turn around and punch the stupid guy in the face. We're the reason people like you are still alive, you shithead! But Matthias took in deep breath, calmed down slightly, and kept walking, grinning to himself as he watched a small ember form in the palm of his hand. If they knew the details… they'd take back their words…

In the world, in every country upon the globe, there were a group of humans called superhumans, or as the general public nicknamed them, "supers". They lived alongside normal humans, hiding amongst the populations in constant in fear of being discovered. Their kind were not liked by the others. They were seen as a people to be afraid of, to look down on because of their "barbaric" ways and to consider them as a threat to international security. No one trusted a super, and if a super was found out, government officials were first on the scene to whisk them away. Never were they to be seen again.

When Matthias had discovered as a younger teen that he was one of these supers, he had begun to have nightmares of being taken away from everyone he loved, into a cold, dark room, full of doctors in white lab coats and needles and chains hanging from the ceiling…

Matthias shook his head, ridding himself of the thoughts. He wouldn't become like them… He wouldn't… Which is why he had to show the government the truth about his kind and what they as supers were truly capable of doing.

The city Matthias resided in was anything but perfect. Many areas were deemed out of bounds for many people, given the disposition of the lifestyle there. Drugs, violence, murder in every third or fourth home and hookers on street corners: the city was far from a paradise. There were more criminals roaming the streets than desired, not to mention that the police force was hopelessly outnumbered, which was why Matthias was determined to help them and clean the dirty label the general public put on supers.

Whenever he passed the police station, Matthias made sure to see who was on the wanted list and to do some brief research before pursuing them. He did it on the sly, usually on most nights when Lukas had long gone to bed, and it often resulted in Matthias being extremely sore and tried the next day. But it never failed to make him feel accomplished that he had done something for the better of the city.

Due to the nature of his nightly activities, he tried to avoid telling Ludwig what he was really up to whenever he asked. He'd never believe him in the first place, and if he did end up believing, Matthias wouldn't be surprised if he was handed over to the authorities. To be conspiring with supers was seen as a major crime and would result in dire consequences for both parties.

Having reached his car, Matthias hopped into it and put his keys into the lock, turning it once. Turning on the radio, he shifted through the channels, looking for a decent music station. He paused when he heard a news reporter announcing breaking news.

'It is most confusing as to how this event occurred, but police tell us that they located the wanted drug and sex trafficker Joshua Michaels in the early hours of this morning at Pop's Warehouse. He appeared to have been in a struggle with… well, something or rather, for he was discovered with a number of burns on his arms and face. Police also discovered his accomplice Frederick Smith in a similar circumstance, although he was found hanging by his feet from the roof of a nearby building. Michaels and Smith are in a stable condition at St Vincent's hospital, where they will be taken into custody and trialled for their crimes later on in the week after their recoveries…'

Matthias smiled wickedly. 'You're welcome,' he whispered. 'Have fun with them—I sure did.'

With that, he started the car properly and drove towards the supermarket.

.

When Matthias came back, arms laden with shopping bags, he bumped into Lukas in the corridor. Taking a few bags from him, Lukas went to open their dormitory door, allowing Matthias to pass through once he had done so.

'Did you get my coffee?' he asked him, setting the bags he had on the kitchen bench.

'Yeah, about that Lukas…' Matthias took out the crumpled list from his pocket. 'Six jars? We need to talk about this… you have a condition and it needs to stop.' He sighed. 'But because I love you, I got all six.'

Lukas grinned, slapping Matthias' arm as he went to close their dormitory door. 'You're the best.'

'I know I am! But seriously, we need to have a talk, Lukas…'

Lukas rolled his eyes lightly as he began to take groceries out of the bags they had set upon the benches. 'Tino and Berwald are coming by later on—we're going out to the library. Do you want to join us?' he asked Matthias, taking out a loaf of bread from one of the bags.

The idea did appeal to Matthias. But when he let out a giant yawn against his will, he said, 'Not today… I should get some sleep. Unlike you, I didn't get as much as I wanted to last night.'

Lukas tilted his head to the side in confusion. 'What do you mean? You went to bed before me.'

Matthias shrugged. 'Couldn't sleep…' When he saw Lukas looking at him in concern, he smiled softly and waved a hand. 'It's nothing to worry about, Luke. I just need to stop playing around on my phone…'

As Lukas shook his head in disapproval, Matthias let out a quiet sigh. It was to some extent true: not only was he busy with catching criminals by giving them burns and hanging them off buildings, but in all truthfulness, Matthias had not been sleeping well. His slumbers had been plagued with vivid nightmares for the past few weeks, though where they had come from, he had no idea. All he knew was that he didn't want to see another dead friend or face a crackling thundercloud that zapped him with a cackling laugh. He had spent most of his nights reading strange posts or watching videos to take his mind off of things or until he eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

They spent the next few minutes silently unpacking the shopping, Lukas occasionally throwing Matthias worried glances. Matthias paid them no mind, but appreciated the gestures nonetheless. That was the beauty of Lukas' personality: though he was a soft-spoken guy that hardly expressed his emotions around others, whenever he was around Matthias, he let himself go a little bit. Matthias saw more of his smiles when they were alone together than when they were out with others, and his voice was lighter then as well, the tone slightly less monotone than usual.

When the last bag had been unpacked, there was a knock on their door. When Matthias went to answer it, he smiled hugely at the sight of Tino and Berwald.

Along with Lukas, Emil and Matthias himself, Tino Väinämöinen and Berwald Oxenstierna were a part of their little amalgamated group. They were second years like Lukas and Matthias, but were only vaguely aware of each other. Matthias had known Berwald since their first day of university when he had ploughed straight into him in the dormitory corridor on the first floor, successful in knocking them both over and sending all their books and papers flying. Lukas had met Tino in one of the many clubs that the university had to offer and had become good friends through that. Soon, they had become acquainted with Emil and had created their little group.

'Hey Matthias!' Tino greeted, grinning; Berwald sent Matthias a nod and a tiny quirk of the lips. 'Lukas home?'

'Right here!' Lukas came rushing out of the kitchen in a similar fashion as he had done earlier that afternoon. His voice had lowered and there was sameness in the way he spoke. 'We good to go?'

'Ready when you are,' Berwald rumbled. He peered at Matthias through his glasses. 'You coming with us?'

'No, he needs to rest,' Lukas replied for him, voice laced with mild worry. 'He had little sleep last night.'

Tino puffed his cheeks out in disappointment. 'Aw. Naughty Matthias, you need to sleep!'

'Sorry… But I'll definitely join you guys next time!' Matthias crowed before supressing a yawn.

Lukas narrowed his eyes at him. 'Go to bed, moron. I'll see you when I get back, okay? And call me if you need anything—'

'Will do,' Matthias told him, smiling. 'Now go—the library closes at seven, doesn't it?'

'He's right… we better get a move on,' Tino muttered, looking at his watch. 'See you later, Matthias!'

'See you soon!' Matthias said, waving at their retreating backs.

He waited until they were at the stairs before shutting the door. He let out a sigh. He really was tired… Perhaps it was time for him to take Ludwig's and Lukas' advice and have some rest, but he was rather afraid of having the same nightmares again. But his body was screaming at him to lie down and to let sleep overtake him. With one final yawn, Matthias went into his room and, for the first time in days, he laid his head on his pillow and fell into a peaceful sleep in seconds. He'd catch up on everything else tomorrow…

To be continued...

A/N: Yay Chapter 1 is finally up, and our loveable Nordic 5 are now in the story! Now, I'm going to be keeping these A/Ns to a minimum so I don't bomabard you all with them. So I would like to take the moment now to thank everyone who has/will favourite and follow this story, it means so much to me and thank you all so much! Also thank you to you lovely people who have left a review, I live for your comments! Also, if you have any questions regarding this AU/plot, my inbox is always open, on here, dA and Tumblr, and theartisserie will also accept these on her Tumblr. Now! Without further ado, please leave a review because I'd love to hear from you and enjoy the story!