Gilbert drummed his fingers mindlessly along the edge of the side table at his right. He had been staring at the opposite wall for almost two hours now, without uttering a single word.

Both his brother and Laura had been by to try to coax him into eating, but he'd waved them away.

He knew that he should feel sorry for yelling at Austria as he had. He and Elizaveta had been better friends than ever since the divorce, and he was in just as much pain over her death as everyone else. But Gilbert just didn't have the energy to regret his actions. He missed her too much.

Upstairs, the doorbell chimed. Blackie and Aster sat up immediately, barking their loudest to alert Ludwig to the guest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered where Berlitz was. That mutt was usually the loudest.

He listened to his brother cross from the kitchen to the front door in his long strides, (It only ever took him three or four) and swing open the door. Ludwig spoke briefly with whomever was on the other side before stepping back to let them in, and a second pair of footsteps tapped quickly into the house.

Belgium was moving now too. She hurried from the kitchen, into the entrance way with a half-hearted greeting. All three pairs of footsteps then returned to the kitchen, joined by the noisy scraping of chairs against the tile floor.

Gilbert settled back into the silence that followed, until a low whine sounded beside him. Berlitz sat there, pawing at the nation's arm, and looking up at him with a look not unlike the one he used when he wanted to be fed. But the sentiment was there just the same. Why are you sad?

"Hey buddy." He rasped, his throat still tight with grief. Berlitz replied by sitting up, resting both heavy front paws on Gilbert's knee.

The dog drove the Prussian out of the basement, and up the stairs, where Germany and Belgium sat in the kitchen as he'd heard, and Liechtenstein sat across from them, smiling sympathetically as he entered the room. "Hello Gilbert."

He managed a dull-sounding 'hullo', and moved around everyone to the fridge for a beer. As he passed, he couldn't help but notice how red Lily's eyes were.

"Bruder will be along shortly too. He's just gone to look for…" Lily paused, and bit her lip, recalling the fight between Roderick and Gilbert. "Well, he sent me on ahead with this anyway." She indicated a large basket of cheeses and chocolate on the counter behind her.

Bt as quickly as she'd moved to cover it up; Prussia sneered at the very hint of Austria's name. "What? Did Roddy go missing now? Can't face any one of us, can he? Just slinks off like a coward because he knows I'm right!"

"I'm sorry…" Lily started, eyes already welling up with a new wave of tears. "I wasn't thinking."

"Relax sweetie, you didn't mean anything at all." Laura murmured, reaching across the table for the younger girl's hand.

"Gilbert." Germany said warningly.

"Sorry kiddo." He tossed back.

"I'm sure Roderick is just fine. Probably wanted to be alone for a little while."

"Yes, I'm sure that's it." Liechtenstein agreed, seeming to calm down a little.

"Should I make us all some coffee?" Belgium suggested, already sliding from her seat.

"That would be nice."

"Goddammit!" Prussia finally screamed. "How are you people all just so completely okay with everything? Lizzie is gone, and here you are, just acting like everything is perfectly normal! What the hell is wrong with you?"

None of the other three said anything at first, startled by his outburst. Germany broke the thick silence, trying to calm his brother down.

"I'm sorry Gilbert. I know you're in a lot of pain. But so is everyone else. Just differently, that's all."

It seemed like that would calm him down. The Prussian took a few deep breaths, before the rage flickered across his face again. "I'm going out." He muttered, spinning on his heel and stalking out the door.

"Where?" Ludwig called after him.

"Out!" He bellowed angrily, and slammed the screen door shut, leaving the second hanging open.

"Will Gilbert be alright?" Liechtenstein asked softly.

He turned back to the two women, still watching Prussia's retreating form, and forced a comforting smile. "Ja, he'll be just fine. He needs some time alone for now, that's all. When he wants our help, he will come back for it."

The low crackle of tires on the gravel driveway announced the arrival of Switzerland, whom Lily hurried to greet.

But her warm smile wilted when she saw just how pale he was, running to meet them. "What's wrong bruder?"

He didn't answer right away, choosing to hug his sister tightly before speaking. "Roderick is dead."

{}}{{}

Canada opened his eyes; meeting the familiar cottage he'd visited more times than he could count. But on this particular venture, its clean, friendly exterior held a more foreboding air. Feliciano hadn't come running out to meet them, and worse still, the snowy white door gaped open, swinging slightly in the warm breeze.

Beside him, Lovino tensed up, eyes wide open in horror. "Feliciano…" Then he took off at a sprint towards the house, screaming his brother's name.

"Lovi! Wait!" He called, hurrying after him. "You don't know who else could be in there!"

"To hell with that!"

They ran into the house, crashing the door into the wall in their hurry, and halted in front of the open parlour, where Feliciano sat, looking torn between being happy that his brother had come, or terrified at the gun currently pointed to his head. The woman holding said gun also looked up at the new arrivals, he auburn curls swishing as she turned her head.

She wore a fitted tan uniform that Lovino recognized with a chill as akin to their own. He couldn't see because of the angle her head had tilted in, but he'd be willing to bet that there was a rogue curl free from the hair tie that currently tamed the rest. She looked nearly identical to his brother, right down to the bright smile that lit up her face when she saw them.

"Glad you could join us!" She cheered. "Me an' Feli here were just talking about you!"

"And just who in the fuck are you?" He snarled, eyes never leaving the gun in her hand.

The woman did something strange then. Her voice shifted and dropped slightly until the tone was a perfect imitation of Feliciano's. "Aw, don't you recognize me, fratello?"

"Stop that! Answer my question, bitch! Who are you, and why are you threatening him?"

"Fine." She slipped back into her own register. "I'm Alice Vargas. I suppose you could say I'm another him." This she said indicating the nation seated before her. "Another North Italy."

Lovino bit his lip, probably refraining from questioning her apparent lunacy. "Okay. Now why don't you point that gun at me instead if you're going to point it at someone? There's no need to put him in any danger right now."

Alice laughed heartily at the request. "And have Lucia kill me? No thanks! No, you're not going to get hurt Romano. And neither is your boy-toy behind you. At least, not yet. Only one person has to die right now. And he's right here in front of me."

Before she could turn back to Feliciano, the younger Italian had leapt forward, and torn the gun from her hand. With the same move, he swept it across her head, failing to knock her out. But at least she was unarmed, and on the floor.

"Fratello! Mateo! You showed up!" Italy cried, running over to hug his brother. "She just showed up, and I thought she was Seborga, but she pushed the door open and…"

"Alright Feliciano. It's okay now." He looked over his brother's head to Alice, who glared back up at him from the floor. "Now it's time to tell us what the flying fuck is going on. Why does anyone have to die?"

She sat up with a light groan, wincing holding the spot where her gun had struck, but just as confidant as ever. "Tell me, do you believe in alternate dimensions?" She asked with a weird grin.

"Hell no." Lovino scoffed.

"You might want to start. Or else you're going to have a hard time comprehending what I'm about to tell you.

"We found a doorway to your universe several years ago. But it never opened wide enough for more than one to go, so one by one, we've been scouting your world for years, using these temporary portals. Figured we liked your history better than the hell we were put through, and that it wouldn't be too hard to take your places. You're like our doppelgangers. All we have to do is kill you, and we can have a real life."

"And you think we're just going to lie down and let you?"

"We've seen far more war than any of you. Centuries of blood and death reek from our hands. Killing just one potentially threatening person each is nothing to us."

"If you were anywhere near as good as you seem to think you are, then why is it you're on the ground, and I have your only weapon?"

Alice paused, and smirked at the thought. "I suppose you've got a point. Or at least you would if you actually had my only weapon."

Before any of the three men could react, she'd pulled a second gun from underneath her jacket, fired a single shot in their direction, and nimbly darted for the open window.

And Feliciano slumped forward, dead in his brother's arms.

She was already long gone by the time Lovino found the air to start screaming profanities to the heavens.

For a while, Canada couldn't utter a word. He could only stand dumbstruck at what had just happened.

But Italy would be okay soon enough. He'd been shot plenty of times in war. In just a few minutes, he'd shudder and sit up again, the wound already healing.

But as his lover's enraged cries turned into a soft pleading, Canada's thoughts turned to the only exception.

If Alice was exactly who she had claimed to be.

If this was how Hungary met her fate.

The chime of his mobile marred his concentration, and for a moment, he almost ignored it. But the thought of what that had done to Feliciano made him snatch it from his pocket faster than he'd ever done.

"Yes?"

"Oh thank God. Matthew. You and Lovino fetch Feliciano and get back immediately, do you hear? Right this instant."

"Is Al okay?" He was almost too afraid to ask.

"What? Yes, yes he's fine. It's… Matthew, it's Austria. Ivan's only just come to tell us."

"No."

"He's dead too. Stabbed in the conference room almost three hours ago, by Vash's estimate. Something like that should have healed within minutes. I think we're dealing with some sort of serial killer."

Canada just watched Romano begin to sob over his brother's corpse, and felt his entire body grow cold with dread. "I know."

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading.

Sorry for overlapping revelations between groups. See, this is why there will be multiple sections, to split up all the groups. But for the intro, it'll jump all over the place a bit.

For Italy's double I went with Himaruya's Alice. I think it works. And Lucia is S. Italy.

Also, I probably should've mentioned much earlier that crack-pairings are abundant here. So Romanada, being my OTP is here, and others will be made apparent as we continue. Sorry for any confusion and/or disappointment!