Arthur couldn't take his eyes off of the screen, he felt that same dip in his heart as he had when he first watched Matthew in his own hostage video, he dreaded whatever Feliciano's kidnappers had in store for him.

"Play it again," Arthur ordered.

"Ludwig!" Gilbert sighed with relief as he paced behind Arthur, talking to his brother on the phone, "I don't care what time it is! It's Feli! He's here, in London! It's not good at all; you need to get here now! No I swear! We just got a memory stick in the mail and it has him on it! I know it's just like Ma- I don't care who you have to talk to: I'll take care of things on my end!"

"So, his little brother's going to come to London…" Yao muttered, glancing back to see Gilbert pacing like a nervous wreck as he spoke to his little brother over the phone.
Arthur frowned, as he looked down at Yao, wondering how the man knew who Ludwig was, and then he remembered: Gilbert talks about Ludwig obsessively; people who didn't know him well would think that Ludwig was his child. Arthur knew a lot about him before his journey to Washington DC, however, he hadn't seen his face: Gilbert was careful about that because despite the fact of how proud he was of Ludwig: he cared about protecting his identity.

Yao finally clicked the play button again, and the video replayed, this time Arthur watched it more intensely, trying to pick out any clue that he could in this process, Arthur instinctually leant in closer to the screen.

Feliciano was the focal-point of the video, his head and shoulders sat in the middle of the frame: his wide and terrified eyes stealing everyone's attention as tears rolled down his cheeks. There was a white cloth stuffed into his mouth, effectively silencing the Italian as his shoulders rose and fell in time with his frantic panting. Arthur was relieved to see that he didn't appear physically hurt, only terrified beyond comprehension.
However, the video offered no other information, as the only things that could be seen in the entire footage was Feliciano's face and the red brick wall behind him. There was nothing else that offered any clues as to where he could be, Arthur couldn't even figure out what time of day this could have been filmed at. The only way they could get more information is to speak with Ludwig; as he could tell them the last time he saw Feliciano, which could offer some insight into when Feliciano was taken.
Until then, Arthur was hopeless.

"They say that there will be something about another video arriving," Yao pointed out, as he began to play the video for a third time, "We'll have to keep surveillance on mail, I don't know whether dusting the envelope for prints will do us any good."

"I don't care," Gilbert pointed out as he put his phone back into his the pocket of his fitted jacket, "do what we can, this is personal. They've taken a top CIA agent and dragged the UK into it. This is huge."

"So, will Ludwig be coming to London?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, he's going to arrange for it as soon as he can, whereas, I now need to go and speak to the higher-ups, they'll need to know about this," Gilbert explained, "god, it's a fucking agent-exchange program."

"When did you get back from America, again?" Yao asked as Arthur watched Gilbert jog out of the office.

"Just over two months ago," Arthur answered, "Focus: is there anything else on the memory stick, anything you can pull up?"

"Nothing, the stick is standard, completely clean: except for the video," Yao explained, "Oh, I hope he's going to be ok… I heard your last kidnapping case didn't go so well."

"I'd prefer it if we didn't speak about that," Arthur grumbled, narrowing his eyes at the man who sat at the desk, Yao shuddered, as though he knew that he had crossed a line.

"I-I'm sorry," Yao stuttered.

"Forget about me. Just get that envelope down to forensics and have them swab it for prints: Gilbert will kill us if we don't at least do something," Arthur replied.

Arthur internally panicked as he imaged what horrors that poor Italian could be going through, all Arthur had to compare his experience to was what happened to Matthew, and what a degraded state the Canadian was in during his time under Ivan's control. And how the entire episode ended with nothing but death, destruction and pain.
Right when Arthur thought that he could escape it all; his experience in America follows him home, it stays with him in the form of horrible nightmares, gut-wrenching guilt and crippling anxiety.

Within a week, Arthur was hearing the news that Ludwig had arrived in London, and was on his way to the base thus; Gilbert was frantic, running around to collect all of the evidence they had: which wasn't much.

"I see that Feliciano is very important to Ludwig," Yao pointed out.

"More than important, that's why we need to work extra hard on this case: it's personal," Gilbert explained.

"I'm still stuck, why would they kidnap Feliciano; what does he have to offer? I thought he had administrative roles…" Arthur muttered as he twisted his pen in his fingers, as he thought about all of the duties he saw Feliciano perform during his time in America.

"He used to be a field agent, but now he's mainly administrative, and works closely with Ludwig, He has a whole range of roles; the entire place can't run without him, not to mention, Ludwig would be a complete mess without him," Gilbert replied, "that's why they need him back, and we're going to do everything we can to help them."

"I didn't know MI6 cared so much about their relationship with the CIA…" Yao muttered, not looking up from his computer screen.

"We have to," Gilbert pointed out as the elevator doors to the floor opened, and two tall figures stepped out. "Ludwig!" Gilbert exclaimed, before taking his younger, but taller brother in for a supportive hug, "We're going to find him, no matter what."

Arthur's eyes widened when the second figure stepped past Ludwig, keeping his deep blue eyes focussed on the red carpeting of the office, immediately, Arthur felt his heart tense within his chest as he watched the man move around the office.

"Alfred…" Arthur gasped, immediately, the man's head shot up and he finally looked Arthur in the eyes, and did not look happy to see him.
His eyes stabbed Arthur in the chest, creating an intense burning sensation within his heart, Arthur's anxiety reached a height that made him want to hide and never come out, he regretted everything he had ever done in his entire life with an unhealthy intensity.

"It's good to see you," Ludwig said to Arthur extending his hand for a handshake, "Gilbert has told me that you've been doing well, that's nice."

"T-thanks…" Arthur muttered, shaking the Germans hand.

"Are you ok?" Yao asked.

"I'm fine!" Arthur snapped, as he tensed his shoulders. "Just… we should start to work on finding Feliciano…"

"Right," Ludwig replied, somewhat sympathetic of Arthur's positon, "show me the video."

As Gilbert led Ludwig towards Yao's computer, Arthur watched Alfred follow Ludwig and pass Arthur closely, staring at him, his eyes narrowed by bitterness, and tired from visible lack of sleep. "Alfred, I…"

"Don't." Alfred hissed, only to quickly turn his back to the Brit, "If I mean that little to you: don't even bother talking to me…" Arthur could only sigh when he watched Alfred's hand tighten into trembling fists, like his entire persona of a scorned man was beginning to crumble.
Arthur knew how that felt, because he was beginning to crumble himself.