I panted, running hard and not daring to stop and catch my breath. Behind me, the heavy footsteps of Matthias Køhler and his cronies sounded through the alleyway. I cursed my foolish sense of pride as I ran. How had I possibly thought that I was ready to pull off a heist this big?

I began gasping for air, my lungs burning, but I couldn't stop. Matthias was renowned amongst "The Gang" for never letting a thief live once he was captured.

Suddenly, my foot hit an errant stone, and I tripped. I tumbled head over heels. I hastily scrambled to my feet, but it was too late. Matthias' right-hand man, Lukas Bondevik, tackled me, and I took a dive for the second time that night. This time, I had the sense to stay down.

Lukas dragged me roughly to my feet, my hands still firmly secured behind my back. I struggled, but to no avail.

Then, my blood ran cold as Matthias stepped forwards, flanked by Tino Väinämöinen and Berwald Oxenstierna. He smirked.

"Hello, Arthur."

"Get away from me, you piece of filth," I spat at him. He frowned.

"Oh come on, Arthur, is that any way to act?" His face returned to its usual smirk. "We're all friends here, after all."

"As if. I know you're going to kill me no matter what." He sighed.

"Regretfully true. But maybe you'll favor me before you go with the name of whoever put you up to this?"

I snorted. "I'll never tell you anything."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." He clicked his fingers, and Berwald stepped forward. "Berwald, our little thief grows tiresome. Go ahead and dispose of him."

Berwald nodded, and pointed his pistol at my chest. I couldn't tell what he was thinking as he cocked the gun. I closed my eyes, and waited for the impact.

It felt like fire, ripping through my body and tearing me apart. I slumped to the ground, in too much pain to speak. Matthias smiled coldly.

"Goodbye, Arthur," he said, and walked off, his henchmen trailing behind. My vision was blurred and hazy. Was I really going to die here in this alley, a nobody?

I leaned back against the wall, groaning with pain. My ears were ringing, and everything was becoming black. Suddenly, I heard hurried footsteps. Good, I thought to myself.Someone's come to put me out of my misery. I looked up, and saw the worried face of a young man with sandy blonde hair and ocean blue eyes framed with wire-rim glasses. His face was the last thing I saw before I passed out.

My eyes opened with a start. I immediately sat up. Then a searing pain in my side nearly made me black out again. I slumped back down, wincing.

"Whoa, careful, dude. I don't know what happened to you, but it's probably not a good idea to sit up just yet," a voice said from nearby. I turned towards the sound, to see a young man sitting on the couch. I recognized him as the man who'd found me before I passed out. He grinned. "Hi! My name's Alfred F. Jones. Who're you?"

I scowled. "None of your business." Alfred pouted, and crossed his arms.

"Aw, come on! It's only fair! I mean, I told you mine." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, I can't keep calling you dude. That'd just be weird." He looked at me eagerly. "So come on! What is it?"

I sighed exsperatedly. "Fine," I said. It couldn't hurt if he just knew my first name, right? "Arthur. It's Arthur."

Alfred smiled brilliantly, and shook my hand, helping me to sit up. "Cool! Nice to meet you, Artie!"

I spluttered. "Wh-Who gave you permission to call me Artie!?"

"I don't need permission, 'cause I'm the hero, and heroes don't need permission to do anything!" He flashed a thumbs-up and struck a heroic pose.

I flared up, blushing. "Y-you git!" I pounded my fists ineffectually against him, Alfred laughing uproariously. This was going to be one long night.

Cute moments with Arthur and Alfred ladies and gents.

Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya

Story adopted from voodoogirl360