A/N

Thank you for all the favourites, reviews and alerts I got for the last update! It means a lot :)

This chapter was a lot of fun to write. Hope you enjoy it.

-Louise


"Bruder."

Gilbert turned to glance over his shoulder, hearing the sound of his younger brother's voice. Ludwig jogged towards him, sensible messenger back slung over his shoulder, Feliciano trailing behind him. The final bell had rung only moments before, the hallways a mess of shouting and scrambling students.

"Hallo, Lud." Gilbert replied, holding up two fingers in mock-salute. "Hey, Feli. What's up?"

"Hi, Gilbert!" Feliciano smiled brightly, his hand nestled tightly within Ludwig's, "Ludwig's taking me out for ice cream this afternoon!"

Ludwig eyed his brother. "Ja, will you be okay to get a lift home?" Gilbert felt a little sting of jealousy, one he couldn't help. Still, he forced a grin and waved him off.

"Sure, bruder. Easy. Is that all you wanted?"

Hesitation flickered across Ludwig's face. He leant in a little closer, "Are you okay? I know Opa was being difficult this morning…" Again, Gilbert held up a hand.

"'M fine, West. Go gay it up with Feli, I'll see you at home okay?" He turned without waiting for a reply, slinging his backpack over one shoulder and walking towards the exit. He didn't feel like finding a ride, or even going home for that matter. He made his way down the street, heading for the thicket of trees that was the opening to the reserve. He, Antonio and Francis used to hang out in there a lot as Freshman, back when Gilbert had first moved to the area and had figured out that he wasn't the only freak in the world.

Now he dumped his back at the entrance and took off, his feet thudding gently against the dirt. He took a deep breath and let his senses take over. The air smelt crisp, the grass crunching under his feet and swirling into the air as he passed.

Faster.

He pushed himself harder, leaping over fallen logs and dodging low branches. He rarely got to let go like this anymore, what with Ludwig watching his every move to make sure he didn't 'endanger his secret'. For all he cared, the world could see. It wasn't like they could catch him anyway.

He slowed to a walking pace, tearing off his gloves and shoving them in the pocket of his jeans. Flexing his fingers, he studied the sharpened points that had once been fingernails. He wondered, not for the first time, what exactly his ability was. Francis and Antonio had suggested he was some kind of white tiger/human hybrid. It would explain the albinism and claws, at least. The heightened senses, agility and strength. The fang-like canines.

Whatever. It was pretty cool to be able to do what he did, but it was inconvenient sometimes. Sex was difficult when you had to do it with leather gloves on. So was explaining to your Grandfather why no, you couldn't go to the doctors. They might notice something weird in your blood or something. You couldn't really get close to anyone unless they knew about what you were.

Gilbert was jolted by his thoughts by a foreign scent wafting from the east. Huh? No one really came to the reserve, at least not this far in. Quietly he made his way towards the smell, trying to pick out the different undertones that would tell him what to expect. Two males, he knew that much. One of them smelt like winter while the other smelt of sweet flowers. They were close, only a few hundred meters from where he'd stopped.

He heard them next, quiet, accented voices whispering faintly in his ear. He crept closer, struggling to make out the words.

"He knows that we're here."

"…Can't be helped. Invite him to join us, aru."

Hello little tiger… come say hi, da?

Gilbert stopped, hands flying to his temples as a deep voice resonated in his head, definitely not his own.

"What the fuck?" He breathed, stumbling backwards a little.

Don't be such a маленький ребенок, Gilbert. My friend and I would very much like to meet you.

Gilbert shook his head, trying to clear it. What the hell was going on?

Scared?

Who the fuck are you?

Come and find out.

Warning bells sounded in Gilbert's mind. "No fucking way." He muttered, turning and sprinting from the clearing as fast as his legs would carry him. Maybe if he got far enough away, he wouldn't hear that creepy, calm Russian tone resonating in his mind. For the first time in a long while, he felt afraid.

He ran until he reached the entrance, shoved his gloves back on, grabbed his bag and kept running. He kept to the back roads, grabbing his phone and dialling Ludwig's number.

"Gilbert?" Ludwig answered on the first ring, true to form, "Are you alright?"

"No I'm not fucking alright! I was in the reserve and I smell these people, so I decide to check it out. They were having a conversation about me, West! Then this creepy Russian voice starts going off in my mind, so I tear out of there but–"

"Gilbert, calm down. I'm on my way. Where are you?"

Gilbert struggled to calm his breathing, clenching his hand into a fist by his side. "On the corner of Mayfield and Robertson. Please… please hurry, West." He hated the weakness in his voice. The damned vulnerability.

"I'll be there as fast as I can, big bruder." Ludwig promised, then hung up.

Gilbert shook his hair out of his eyes, trying to ignore the anxiety creeping up his neck. Fuck.

Ludwig's red jeep rounded the corner, slowing to a stop where Gilbert had sat down on the side of the road. He was having a hard time keeping his hands from shaking, imagining that every thought he had wasn't his own. Ludwig got out and came to stand in front of him, his hand resting gently on his older brother's shoulder.

"Gilbert, are you okay?"

Gilbert lifted his head, trying to grin. "Ja, West. I'm the awesome Gilbert, remember?" He stood up, shaking off Ludwig's hand and going around to the back seat. Feliciano sat in the passenger seat, shooting him a worried look as he opened the door.

"Ciao, Gilbert." He said with a small smile, "How are you feeling?"

"Hey Feli." He mumbled, closing the door and leaning his head against the window, "'M good." He closed his eyes, not bothering to do up his seatbelt, and tried to get his head together. At least until he got home – he could freak out as soon as he was alone. Right now, he had to keep it together.

"Do you mind coming back to the house for a bit?" Gilbert heard Ludwig ask Feliciano quietly.

"Of course not, Ludwig. Is Gilbert hurt? Maybe I can –"

"I'm not hurt, Feliciano." Gilbert muttered, "Just freaked out, that's all. I'll be fine. You guys can go back to whatever you were doing before I called."

Ludwig and Feliciano exchanged glances, but said nothing. Gilbert swore under his breath and went back to gazing out the window, trying to ignore the pity he could almost feel rolling off them in waves.

When they arrived at the house Gilbert tore inside, throwing a half-hearted 'thanks' over his shoulder. His Opa's car was in the driveway and he was in no mood for a clash with the old man, so he made a beeline for the door that led to his bedroom. When they'd moved here he'd taken the basement as his room, needing the privacy of locked doors and a space away from his overbearing grandfather and worrying brother.

Poor little Gilbert, can't handle a little confrontation? Even Feliciano is pitying you. Volatile, crazy animal man. Isn't that what she called you? An animal. A freak.

Gilbert snarled, gnashing his teeth together as he paced. He hurled his fist into the wall, the plaster giving way with the force of the punch. He barely felt the pain. He needed to destroy things, to break them apart and feel his anger ebb away. It was reaching boiling point, where it physically hurt to breathe and he couldn't think straight. He heard someone pounding on his door but the sound seemed far away, unimportant.

Growling, he grabbed the chair at his desk and threw it at the opposite wall, pushing everything from his desk onto the floor. He heard something shatter and felt an instant spark of gratification. He grabbed his bedsheets and ripped them off the mattress, balling them up and tossing them to the ground.

Get out of my fucking head, get out of my fucking head!

Gilbert tore off his gloves once more, curling his hands into fists and feeling the skin break. Blood ran from the deep punctures, dripping onto the ground. He sank to his knees, curling his arms around them, trying to hold himself together.

How pathetic.

Arms wrapped around him and held him tightly, arms he knew could only be his little brothers. That only made him angrier.

"Get off me!" He shouted, scrambling up and stalking over to the wall. He refused to meet his brother's eyes. "Fuck off, Ludwig!"

Ludwig looked torn. "I can't help unless you talk about it."

"I don't want to talk, damn it!" Gilbert cried, running his hands through his hair and tugging at the roots, "Look, West, you don't fucking get it. I'm all for finding others like me and Feli and the others, but you didn't hear this guy. He sounded predatory. Like he was going to cart me off to some lab and put me under a fucking microscope." Defeated, Gilbert let himself slide down to the ground, burying his face in his hands, "You know how fucking terrified I am of that happening. I can't… I don't know what to do, West. He's been inside my head. Inside my fucking head."

Ludwig didn't move from his place in the middle of the room. "Bruder, I… I don't know what to say." Gilbert just shook his head. There was nothing anyone could say to make this okay.

"Ich habe Angst, West. Ich habe Angst." He whispered, letting Ludwig put his arm around his shoulders this time when he moved towards him.

"Es wird in Ordnung sein, Gilbert. Everything is going to be okay."

Gilbert just squeezed his eyes shut tighter and prayed his brother was right.