Before the chapter starts, I want to tell you I read all your reviews, comments and stuff, so I'm glad you guys helped me with some words that had to be fixed. I fixed them in this chapter already, but for the other chapters, I will do so when I've got the time. My finals are over, so it should be alright, but I can't be sure when I'll be fixing it :P I'm still lazy as ever.

Enjoy!

A Hero's True Love

Chapter 3

By HamburgerWithTea

With his head still half asleep, Arthur thought he heard a lot of noise form outside the door.

"I'm just hearing things…" Arthur thought as he fell back into unconsciousness.

" –ake up, hey, wake up," a worried voice said. Arthur, still not fully awake, felt light pats at his left cheek…

"Hey wake up already, man!" the voice said, now a bit impatient but still worried. "Hey, I'm gonna take ya outa here, 'kay? Please try to be silent, it won't take long…"

Arthur tried to look up at his saviour. Was this even real? Maybe he was imagining things? He'd done so before ever since he was locked up, especially with the lack of food and water, but last time it were mint coloured bunnies and fairies, even unicorns… But this time it was different. Still this couldn't be real, right? Maybe he was even hallucinating movements now? It felt as if he was being hold in two strong arms, and it seemed like he was moved into a brighter space…

Maybe he was dead?

Arthur tried to open his eyes to see what was happening, but he failed. He already sunk back into unconsciousness. He started to get annoyed by passing out every time…

Arthur felt as if he was laying onto something nice, soft and warm, feeling somewhat happy, even though his body hurt.

He couldn't be dead, if he was he wouldn't feel any pain, right?

And that was when he opened his eyes, to meet with the most beautiful sky-blue ones he'd ever seen, staring back at him.

"Ah, ya're finally awake, man," the blue-eyed man said, while striking a hand through his blonde hair. One small part of his hair stayed up, like an antenna. "Ya got me really worried for a sec there, dude!" the man continued to talk and Arthur felt a wet piece of cloth pressed against his forehead and right cheek.

"W-wha-?" Arthur stuttered, still a bit stunned by the situation he was in. He felt how the cold cloth wiped across his right cheek and cleaned the wound a bit. It felt so cold and pleasant against his hot skin.

"Ah dude, sorry, I almost forgot, my name's Alfred F Jones! I'm the city's superhero, ya know," the guy, who Arthur now knew as Alfred, pointed at himself while giving Arthur a thousand watt smile, "So ya're probably the gone-without-a-trace police officer, right? Arthur Kirkland or so? Damn, they're all looking for ya! But it was hard to find ya, really! They locked you in pretty well, even a hero like me had a hard time finding you!" Alfred continued, he seemed the hyperactive kind of guy.

"Where am I?" Arthur asked, still wondering what exactly was going on. It seemed like he was saved, by this superhero even, but he still didn't get the rest of what was going on.

"Ah ya're at my house, man, I had to take ya here to hide ya from these gangsters. Really, they were persistent! I didn't even got to tell the police yet, I guess it's better to keep ya hidden in here for now, tell nobody, in case they come 'nd get ya. Ya're lucky I've got this awesome secret hideout!" Alfred continued to explain, "Ya've got a pretty bad fever right now. Yer wounds are healing awesome though,"

"Hm," Arthur hummed in understatement, "May I get some water?" he asked with a hoarse voice.

"Ah, yeah sure, there ya go," the superhero replied, grabbing a plastic bottle filled with water and holding it against Arthurs lips, who tried to grab it with his right hand, but stopped with a grunt as he felt the horrible pain in his shoulder.

"Wow, take it easy, man, yer shoulder was stabbed pretty bad! No real deep stab, but a very painful spot though," Alfred said, somewhat in panic while trying to find something to ease the pain, "It'll heal though, that's what the doc said, so ya just have to take rest and don't overdo it."

Arthur hummed again, now that the pain was fading away he got thirsty again, so he grabbed the bottle with his left hand instead. Once he got a hold of the bottle, he gulped down the whole of it in less then twenty seconds.

"Ya want another one?" Alfred asked, looking wide-eyed at the thirsty Brit. Arthur nodded, and so Alfred gave him another bottle.

"Thank you," Arthur managed to say after he finished drinking two and a half bottles of water. He really needed that.

"Ah you should eat something too, dude, really how long have ya been there? Ya're starved!" Alfred told him.

"I don't know, ever since they kidnapped me I guess?" Arthur replied, trying to sit up. Slowly of course, not to hurt his shoulder or other injuries. Also his back still hurt from when they hit him.

"That'd be 4 days or something… So any idea what ya wanna eat?" Alfred now asked, "Hamburgers? Ice cream? Cake?" he summed up.

"Really, has this bloke ever heard of 'healthy food' ?" Arthur thought while he felt the urge to facepalm.

"No you git, that's no food, that's bloody rubbish!" Arthur now interrupted Alfred, who continued to sum up several other unhealthy dishes, "Please give me something eatable and healthy!"

"Ah but what do ya want then? Really dude, I don't understand ya," Alfred now told him with a confused look on his face.

"Just some sandwiches would be quite alright, I think," Arthur told him, "Cheese and ham, if possible…"

"Aww, c'mon Artie, don't be so polite!" Alfred said, beaming a big smile.

"Well, I'd rather be polite then act like a git as you do," Arthur huffed, glaring at the superhero. "And don't call me Artie! It's Arthur."

"Well then, Arthur," said Alfred with a smirk while pronouncing the name excessively, "I will go fix ya some sandwiches now!" And, once again, a bright smile beamed from his face. Arthur just kept glaring, though he did feel some respect for the lad, since, after all, he had saved him from a situation that'd have probably meant his death.

Alfred then walked out of the room, leaving the Brit alone. Now that Alfred had left, Arthur had the time to look around a bit. He still moved as little as possible, but he did see almost the whole room. It was a pretty spacious room, with a double bed in the middle. It was pretty high-tech and clean, yet it had hero-related objects everywhere; figures, comics, games, DVDs and even some old video tapes. The bed was covered with a spread printed with stars and stripes. The American flag.

"Really, does he have to boast that much about the states?" Arthur wondered. He almost started to believe in stereotypes…

He suddenly felt a painful pinch in his left ribs, the place where he was hit. He checked up what his injuries were and how bad they were. They were all bandaged pretty well, probably by some fine doctor (Arthur should have to thank the one who did so later).

It seemed like the worst injuries were at his shoulder, his head (it was bandaged after all) his ribs, and a cut in his cheek and arm.

"I've been lucky, it could've been much worse…" Arthur thought as he remembered they had found a corpse of another cop about three weeks ago. And that guy didn't look too well, and there were still some limbs of him missing…

He noticed that when he moved he'd have most pain in his side and shoulder. "It'll probably take a while until it's healed…" he noted to himself.

Then he heard the door click open, but instead of the loud and obnoxious superhero he expected, there was someone else standing in the doorframe.

The guy did look alike the superhero, but he was less masculine, a lot calmer and his hair and eyes were different, even though he also wore glasses. Also he seemed to have a bag with him and a he wore a white coat. The ones doctors and scientists wear…

"Hello," the guy said calmly, still standing in the doorframe, "Is it okay if I enter?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Arthur told the guy. This one seemed a lot more the type of person he'd get along with.

"My name is Matthew Williams," the guy told him, "Nice to meet you, I'm both mechanic and doctor for Alfred, since he has to keep his superpowers hidden and all…" he said, while stretching out an arm to shake Arthur's hand.

"Ah, nice to meet you too, my name is Arthur Kirkland," Arthur said while replying the handshake, "I somewhat figured you'd be mechanic or doctor or so.. the coat" he pointed out while looking at the white coat Matthew was wearing.

"So, well… How're your injuries?" Matthew questioned him, while looking at Arthur's side, since Arthur was holding onto it with his right hand, since that was both comfortable for his shoulder and it somewhat helped against the pain.

"Ah they're all right… They hurt a bit, but it's bearable," Arthur replied.

"Alright, for now you can keep these bandages, but tomorrow I'll have to give you new ones. Your fever will be gone pretty soon, I think, and you will probably recover pretty well, though your shoulder might take a longer time, maybe even several years, since it's been stabbed. Not too deep, but still at an inconvenient spot. Asides from that you may keep a few scars, but it should be alright…" Matthew explained, "Just don't overdo it, especially since you also have a slight concussion."

"Yeah the git told me most of it," Arthur replied, still grateful he was alive, "It'll be okay,"

Almost immediately after he said so the obnoxious American walked back into the room, holding a plate with sandwiches (lots of sandwiches!) and a glass of soda.

"I should've told him I don't drink that rubbish," Arthur thought as he saw it.

"Artie, I'm back!" Alfred practically screamed, " Look I brought you your sandwiches and some soda and…" For a moment he fell silent, and looked at Matthew, who was standing a meter away from him. "Oh hey, ya're here! I tried to find ya and tell ya Artie was awake 'nd all, but couldn't so I went back to Artie," He said, "I didn't see ya standing there for a sec…" He added silently.

"Don't call me Artie! It's Arthur, you prick!" Was yelled from where the Brit was laying in the bed.

"Aw Artie, ya must be grumpy 'cause ya didn't eat, right?" Alfred told him with a smile while walking over to the Brit, not noticing the glare Arthur sent him, "Here, it's the very most delicious 'nd heroic food ya'll ever eat!"

Arthur rolled with his eyes, "No way I can get along with this daft twat," he thought a bit desperate, noticing how he'll have to since he had to stay here for while, both hiding and healing.

But as soon as he smelled the delicious fragrance of the sandwiched Alfred was holding, he felt and heard his stomach rumble. He felt so hungry…

Once the sandwiches were in his reach, so he could grab them without hurting himself too bad, he started to stuff his mouth, forgetting his gentleman attitude. Food's never been this tasty before…

A big thanks to Caroline, caroshadow on dA, for helping me think up the past of the characters, make all characters IC and keep all the awesome shared among the characters to keep it all a fair battle, and helping me keeping the story less cliché 3 she's the best, and she really helped me out a lot! Please visit her dA, it's worth it, and also give her a REALLY BIG thanks (also since she helped me beta-ing… really. How awesome can someone be? She's almost the level of Prussia… but of course ALMOST since well,

Prussia is awesome itself…) !

/Author's note/

First of all; THANK FOR ALL REVIEWS, FAVS, COMMENTS, ALERTS AND WHATEVER. Thank you very much, this is what keeps me motivated!

I wasn't able to reply on reviews cuz of FF fail xD but whatever I read all of them, and fixed it, as written above the chapter.

Furthermore, I'm happy since my finals ended, and I've got the feeling I did pretty well :3 let's hope it works out, I won't have the results back until july 15th.

For the ones who also read my other fanfiction, I'm not sure when I upload a new chapter, it took a while cuz I was busy with finals, but thius Tuesday I'll be away, so I don't know, I'll probably try updating on Monday though.

And and and the most awesome ever; yesterday some baby ducky was grabbed by a cat and all, so we too it in house to take care of, it's called Scone since it looks like a half-burnt scone, and it seems it'll stay with us for now. That's because when we tried to let it walk with his mum and stuff, it turned out to not be able to walk properly… but it's so cute and fluffy!

I feel like Gilbo, taking care of it, but whatever XD

I don't have very much else to tell you guys so, look forward to the new chapter, even though it doesn't get uploaded too regular… I'm lazy…

Byee! Reviews, Comments, Alerts, Favs, all is VERY MUCH appreciated!

I do not own Hetalia or the characters, those belong to their rightful (awesome) creator, Hidekaz Himaruya!

(05/29/11)