Warnings: Language, Sensitive Material (Hitler, brief mention/implication of the Holocaust), Historical Inaccuracies!


It was a cold night over Berlin, but that didn't seem to bother the lone figure that stood on one of the building's roofs. Gilbert didn't even attempt to draw his already open coat closer to him as a biting wind gust blew by, tossing wisps of his silvery white hair into the air. Instead, he brought up a pale hand to take a drag out of the cigarette clipped to his teeth. He breathed in deep, letting the toxic fumes fill his mouth and his lungs before blowing it out and watched it get carried away by the wind.

He was never one for smoking - Hell, alcohol usually did the trick - But recently it was the only thing that could take his mind off of the mess all around him. Although he would never smoke in front of Ludwig or anybody else, after all, he had a big brother image to keep up. So whenever he would start to feel troubled, he'd come up to one of the many rooftops and burn though a pack of 17 in one sitting. Deep in his heart he knew it was a stupid sentiment since Ludwig was far from the little boy that he raised and he smoked now too.

Ludwig...

Gilbert let his brother's name sit in his head for a while, taking another drag from the cigarette. When exactly did he stop being the boy who climbed into his bed when a thunderstorm hit and started being the stoic, impassive man that he was now? Gilbert had trouble pinpointing an exact moment. He would have no problem admitting that he was still proud of his little brother - if only he didn't follow every word of their stupid, shitty boss' orders down to the last letter.

The Prussian nation sighed, glaring at the finished cigarette he held in his hand. He quickly snuffed it out and tossed the butt to the side, his hand immediately diving for the pack he kept in his pocket. Now, he absolutely hated arguing with Ludwig - Especially since Gilbert knew that in a serious argument both of them tended to let his mouth run faster than his brain (which more often than not resulted in hurtful comments being thrown around)- Still, against his will, the memory of their recent squabble came to his mind. He lifted a shaking hand with a lighter to light the new stick and once again welcomed the poisonous vapour into his system.

Breathe in...

"Why did you go along with it?! "

"I was just following orders!" Ludwig boomed, frustrated, narrowing his blue eyes at his brother, "Just like you should have been doing but instead you decided to skip out-"

Gilbert's red eyes flared with anger, banging his fist onto the wooden desk so hard that it left a small dent. "I follow every single fucking order that man gives me but I have the decency to think for myself and at the very least be considerate of other's feelings-"

"Considerate?" Ludwig scoffed, pointing an accusing finger at Gilbert. "You were the one who raised me with the mindset of total obedience to your leader! You told me that feelings had no place in the battlefield and all that mattered was that you do as you're told! Isn't that what I'm doing?!"

"I didn't raise you to just nod at your boss like you're his yes man!" the albino yelled over his Ludwig's already loud voice, "I told you to follow, but to offer suggestions - To speak up if you felt like there was something that could be done better! A country is a leader's partner - Not his fucking lapdog!" Gilbert heard his own voice waver in the middle of his heated tirade, "Gottverdammnt- Gottverdammnt, Ludwig! You know how much that... That place meant to me!"

"It was just a grave, Gil-"

Gilbert had to pause for a moment, a grin spreading to his face as if Ludwig just told a joke. "Just a grave?" he said softly and in an instant his hand swept across the desk, sending pencil pots and folders clattering to the floor, much to Ludwig's shock. "JUST A MOTHERFUCKING GRAVE, LUDWIG?! Have you perhaps forgotten who the fuck is buried there?!"

"You act as if they went and stomped all over his grave or something!" Ludwig shook his head, running a hand through his slicked back hair, "Gilbert, the orders were to merely re-locate Frederick der Große's casket to somewhere where it will be safe-"

"Safe my ass- Where does the fuhrer want to keep it? Oh yeah, that's right- A fucking salt mine! It was safe where it was!" Gilbert waved his hands in an exasperated manner, "You didn't even listen when I tried to tell our Fuhrer to at least move it to Sanssouci! Or all those other times I tried to say something else because I knew what our precious leader was thinking of doing was some fucked up shit, you took his side over mine!"

"Now you're just acting like a child!" Ludwig spat, slamming both of his hands down on the desk as well, "You always trotted around, proud to declare that you were a soldier - Well I don't see a soldier in front of me right now. I see a whining, cowardly jungen who wants to put his personal ideals above those of his leader's! If you're so proud of being a soldier, then start fucking acting like one!"

A tense silence hung in the air, both brothers having their mouths agape - Ludwig out of shock at what he had just said; Gilbert stung by his brother's accusations. Coward. His little brother, who once called him brave and strong, just threw the word in his face for trying to stand up for what he thought was right. It hurt - It hurt him more than he could try to put into words. He could see the slow forming regret in his brother's blue eyes, but he didn't care at the moment.

"I'm done here," he muttered with a strong sense of finality.

"Bruder-"

"Don't you bruder me!" He jabbed a finger in his brother's direction, "If kissing a dictator's ass is what you call being a soldier and a nation then fine! Be my fucking guest!" The albino turned his back and started towards the door before stopping right before he exited. "But I was taught to be a different kind of country and soldier. Yes, I obey my superiors. Yes, my Ki- Leader's will is my will. But I think for myself and on behalf of my people and I know the difference between good warfare and just plain carnage. I thought I raised you the same way. Guess my lessons didn't matter, bruder."

Breathe out.

Gilbert closed his eyes, letting the sharp memory just fade back to the back of his mind where it once was. Maybe a small part of him was still angry at Ludwig, but that part paled in comparison to the part of him that was worried about him. He leaned on the railings, watching as the lights from the city went off one by one as it started to drift off to sleep. Gilbert needed to get Ludwig to see - He needed him to open his eyes to the atrocities that their boss was committing against humanity as a whole. He needed something, anything to prove to himself that Ludwig didn't actually agree to these horrible things that have been happening.

But how could he when they weren't even on speaking terms with each other right now? Another freezing gust of wind blew by as the Prussian nation looked up to the star-studded sky above, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. "He's just as stubborn as you were, you know?" He whispered to the heavens, "Mein Gott, Fritz, what should I do? Lud's a good kid and all, but he has to see what's really going on. This ... This isn't war - War is the glory of running through a battlefield, soldier vs. soldier, not this Scheiße that includes killing innocent men, women and children! Children for Christ's sake..." He felt his already white-knuckle grip tighten on the rails, taking another puff of smoke, "If you're feeling up to it, d'you mind asking the big guy a favour for me? Just to give me a little-"

"Preußen?"

Gilbert didn't even have time to finish his sentence when he turned around to look at the owner of the voice. Ludwig was standing at the entrance to the stairwell, wrapped up in his scarf and black coat, looking reluctant to come closer to his brother. The albino blinked, turning away to put out his cigarette. Gott, you are awesome, Fritz! "Mm?" came his simple reply, just to let Ludwig know his words weren't falling on deaf ears. He wasn't going to let his brother know that he was going to crawl back to him that easily.

"I... I thought you'd be up here," the younger of the German brothers mumbled into his scarf. Gilbert found it strange because Ludwig didn't mumble.

"Aren't you supposed to be in a meeting or something?"

"I... I was just at one,"

Gilbert kept his gaze focused on the city lights even as he heard footsteps slowly coming towards him. From the corner of his eye, he could see his brother's figure lean on the rails, a good few feet of space between them. When he caught sight of the black and blue mark that marred his face, every other trace of anger towards Ludwig left Gilbert immediately. "Lud, your face-!" He laid a hand on his brother's cheek, only to watch him flinch away from the sudden contact.

"Yeah," Ludwig muttered, eyes looking away from his brother.

"Who did this?" Gilbert snarled, although he already knew the answer to that question, "I swear to Gott, I'm going to kill-!"

"Brude - I mean-"

"It's okay, Lud. I'm not mad anymore," Gilbert said firmly, "Well I am. Not at you though, at the fucker who-!"

"Bruder, bitte," the German nation pleaded. Now if there were two things Ludwig didn't do, it was mumble and plead. And so far he's done both of them in the less than 5 minutes time he was up here so there must be something more to the story.

"What happened?" Gilbert prodded gently, doing his best to squash down the burning rage in him so Ludwig could tell him what he wanted to tell him. Ludwig opened his mouth to talk, but then quickly shut it again, like he was debating whether or not to tell his brother. "Lud, don't worry. It's just you and me up here, okay? Nobody will know,"

A few moments of silence passed before the younger one finally broke it with a sigh, "I went to the meeting with the Fuhrer today while you were off talking to the other generals," Ludwig started to tell, shoving his hands into his coat pockets in an effort to keep them warm. "I assumed it would have been at the normal meeting place, but instead I got picked up from the house by a couple of SS officers. Apparently the Fuhrer wanted me to go check up on some new 'developments'" he paused, as if the word 'developments' was going to make him lose whatever's in his stomach.

"So?"

"So we drove to one of those camps and- Gott..." Ludwig put a hand to his forehead, his eyes wide and terrified. Gilbert hasn't seen that look in them since he woke up to the same terrified face after being out cold for a week due to an injury. "We were under the impression that they were work camps - But lord, they're not, Gilbert! - The women and children... They're all as thin as sticks! There are lines where they separate the physically able and those who aren't and those that weren't were shot! It didn't- It didn't matter if it was a grown man or a child, they were killed! And the worst part is, people were being shepherded into fucking gas chambers and-"

Gilbert didn't wait for Ludwig to finish as he pulled him into a tight hug, running a hand through his hair like he always did when his brother was scared. Ludwig didn't fight against it like he usually would, instead he did something he hadn't done for a long time - He willingly let his head rest on Gilbert's shoulder, wrapping his arms around him as well.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, kleiner bruder," Gilbert whispered, still in shock himself. He knew that the conditions in those camps were terrible, but he never thought they had already resorted to mass genocide.

"I recognized some of their faces," Ludwig muttered into his brother's shoulder, shutting his eyes to keep the tears in, "Some of them were people that I wrangled up under orders... And I didn't even ask what they were doing to them," the German grit his teeth, "I was furious after that. I wasn't thinking straight. I demanded to be driven back to meet the Fuhrer. I asked him what the hell he was doing to those people and - Ugh. I can't believe I followed him so blindly - And when I started to oppose he... He struck me."

Ludwig pulled away from the hug to raise a hand to his cheek. Gilbert was doing all that he could to not scream for his boss to go fuck himself right there and then. Nobody hurt his little brother. He didn't care if they were his leader, a fellow nation or a human - If they hurt Ludwig, they would pay one way or another.

"Schwien-" Gilbert growled, channelling as much hate as he could muster into that one word. "That dirty, disgusting son of a bitch-"

"Es tut mir leid, bruder," Ludwig spoke, cutting off what would have been a very heated rant,"I should have trusted your word above his. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say the things that I did a couple of nights ago,"

"Hey, don't get all soft on me now-" Gilbert cracked a joke, lightly hitting his brother on the arm. "It's okay, apology accepted,"

In spite of himself, Ludwig still smiled. He looked out into the city and Gilbert followed his lead, his hand going into his coat pocket to grab a stick. Pulling two out, he clipped one between his teeth and offered the other to his brother, much to the other's surprise. Gilbert raised a brow, silently asking Ludwig whether he wanted it or not. In reply, the cigarette was snatched from his fingers, which prompted a smile from the elder brother. Ludwig procured a lighter from his own pocket and lifted it towards his brother first so he could light his stick first before lifting it up to his own cigarette.

Silence passed between the brothers as they stood out there in the cold air, just smoking and enjoying each other's company. "What do we do?"

Gilbert looked at his brother and took a drag, "I don't know," he said honestly with a sigh, "I know. The Awesome Me is rarely out of ideas, but I'm completely stumped here. I don't want him to completely take over the world - Good lord, that would be a nightmare for all of us. But at the same time, we can't exactly just hand ourselves over to the Allies. What would that spell for our troops? After what our boss has done to them, I doubt they'd be eager to let us go so easily,"

"Mm," Ludwig nodded, looking grim as he took a puff from his cigarette.

"We'll figure something out," the white haired brother shrugged, "One way or another. If we can't stop it altogether, maybe we can at least do something to make it a little less horrid,"

"I don't understand how you can still be so optimistic, bruder," Ludwig shook his head. Gilbert let out a laugh, clasping his brother on the back.

"Someone has to be the happy one between the both of us," he laughed.

The blonde chuckled, "I suppose." He tapped the cigarette, letting the ashes fall down to the ground. "And bruder,"

"Yeah?"

"When this... This whole war is done and over with," Ludwig gestured at nothing in particular, meeting his brother's gaze so Gilbert knew that he was being serious, "I promise we'll take Konig Frederick's casket to Sanssouci," he saw his brother's eyes widen but still chose to continue, "I... I know how much he meant to you, I mean, you only told me about him every night when I was young. Again, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have agreed to that,"

"What's done's been done, kleiner bruder," Gilbert smiled, "But thank you. That... That means a lo - ACHOO!"

Ludwig blinked at his brother's sneeze, blue eyes widening when he realized for the first time that his brother wasn't at all as bundled up as he was. "DUMMKOPF!" he thundered, "What the hell were you thinking?! Coming up here with just an open coat and no scarf or gloves when it's this cold outside?!"

"It wasn't as cold as it is now!" Gilbert retorted, pulling the coat closer to himself, Ludwig sighed, unwrapping his scarf before unceremoniously throwing it in his brother's direction. "L-Lud!"

"Oh just wear it, bruder." Ludwig deadpanned.

"No, because then you'll be cold! I'm fine!" Gilbert insisted, shoving the scarf back towards Ludwig. Before the other could protest, Gilbert slung an arm over his brother's shoulders and began walking him towards the stairwell entrance, dropping the nearly exhausted cigarette and stomping it out with his foot, "You know what? Why don't we both just warm up by grabbing a beer, huh? We both need a good pick-me-up after that talk anyway, right? Besides, we need to get some ice for that bruise of yours,"

"As long as you're paying," Ludwig smirked, opening the door for his brother.

"W-Wha?!" the Prussian stared Ludwig before huffing, holding his chin up high. "Alright, fine. I'll buy this time, but only because you promised me something!"

"I was joking. I'll buy it," the German smiled genuinely, rolling his eyes at the excited 'YES!' that Gilbert let out. He watched his brother hop a good few steps ahead of him, shaking his head. He honestly didn't know how Gilbert could keep being - well, Gilbert - in spite of everything that was going on around them. Deep down, Ludwig appreciated his brother's constant smile and in fact, he missed it the past few days. The period of cold shoulders and no talking that followed their explosive argument hurt him more than he'd ever care to admit, so he was extremely happy that now they'd both made up and things were, for the most part, back to normal.

They reached the ground floor of the building and exited onto the streets, now back in step with each other. The both of them had a long, frustrating and not to mention grim road ahead of them, but it would be okay. Yes, it was going to get tough but with his big brother by his side, he knew they'd make it through just fine.


Finally got this plot bunny out of my system! :D

So you guys get a glimpse of the war from Gilbert and Ludwig's point of view, plus a little German Bros fluff! Excuse the historical innacuracies! ^^; I hope you guys liked it though! I love it when I get reviews and I get more motivated to write when I see your lovely comments! :

Question: Who would you guys like to see next?

Okay, background headcanon time!

Prussia didn't like Hitler from the start and he hated him even more when he began to idolize Frederick the Great and twist his image to fit his own (which I think pissed Gilbert off to high heaven). So when I read about Hitler digging up poor Fritz' grave, I imagine Prussia would have gone absolutely ballistic when he found out about the plan.
Prussia and Germany didn't approve of the way their boss was handling this war and how he killed and tortured innocent people. Prussia was more obvious and vocal about his disagreement while Germany keeps it to himself in favour of acting like the perfect soldier.
The dictator liked Ludwig better between the two of them, mainly because Ludwig was the poster-child for the ideal 'Aryan' - blonde hair, blue eyes, perfect body, the works - and to top it off, he carries out orders without question. He didn't like Gilbert as much because of Gil's strange appearance thanks to his albinism and his tendency to question his superior's order.
As you can see, Prussia also talks to Fritz whenever he's stressed or worried. If not that, then aggressive flute playing is a good enough substitute.