A/N: First let me be warning you that long chapter is long. There was a lot going in here and I was tempted to split it into two chapters instead but it didn't feel right for me to be doing that. So hear it is all in one long lump of a chapter. By the way, I have a feeling that the last two chapters or so weren't up to everyones' tastes, if so do you mind telling me what wasn't quite up to scratch so I can improve in the future? Thank's a bunch, anyway on with the chapter!

Pineapple, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger! Hopefully this chapter makes it up to you...


Chapter Seven

Upon his realisation Ludwig had sprung to his feet and raced towards the Vargas Estate. Feliciano was an unparalleled runner, only matched by his older brother Lovino, however with any luck Ludwig should be able to make it there before Feliciano retired to bed.

This could not wait until the next morning; Feliciano had discovered his secret and was likely in an elevated state of panic. A panicking Feliciano would not bode well if he didn't confront the Atyilan as soon as humanly possible. Damn it, Feliciano! Why did you have to follow me? Ludwig growled mentally. It wasn't that he didn't trust the smaller male, there just wasn't any way Ludwig was willing to risk anything happening that might put Gilbert and himself into an even worse situation. From what he had seen and heard of Ivan, something like this would be the perfect excuse to exercise even less restraint towards the albino.

That, Ludwig knew, he just could not allow if he could avoid it.

It didn't take long to reach the Vargas estate, and with the state his mind was in the tall blond didn't even glance over to appreciate the immaculate gardens Lovino tended to, like he normally did. Instead he ran straight to the main entrance and began banging on the door to bring attention to his arrival.

Unfortunately for Ludwig the person he was met with upon the door's brisk opening was neither Callixtus or Feliciano. Instead Lovino's scowling face glared up at him, teeth grinding together in obvious irritation. "What do you want? Lei ha condannato coperto ritarda."

Ludwig scowled at whatever Atyilan obscenities Lovino had just shot his way. He was used to this treatment but frankly he was not in the mood to put up with it right now. "I don't have time for whatever unfounded hatred you have towards me!" he snapped, blue eyes narrowing in a heated glare. "I need to talk to your brother. Now!" Lovino's lips curled into an unsightly snarl, ready to snap back, only to be cut off by Callixtus arriving behind him. The head of the household settled a hand upon his eldest grandson's shoulder, effectively silencing any biting comments Lovino had been about to spit out.

"Boys ... must you always fight like this? Honestly Lovino - how long will it take for it to sink in that this family is all about love, not anger or hate!" Callixtus' impossibly youthful and handsome face showed the very picture of dispair as he gazed down at his irate grandson. Said grandson now looked like he was about to explode, his face was turning an angry red and Ludwig could actually hear Lovino's teeth grinding together so hard he might actually wear them down to the gums.

Before Callixtus could go any further into his tearful and dramatic reprimand Ludwig cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, sir, it's just that I really need to speak with Feliciano about something important." In response he received a bright grin as Callixtus ushered him inside and past Lovino. Apparently Feliciano had arrived just a few moments ago and was now upstairs in his room. Ludwig thanked him and briskly made his way to Feliciano's room, the layout of the household had long ago been ingrained into Ludwig's memory and he probably could have made his way there dizzy and blindfolded.

Ludwig didn't even consider whether he should knock on Feliciano's door or not; he simply pushed the obstruction open and made his way inside. Vaguely, somewhere in the back of his mind Ludwig thanked the Gods that Feliciano hadn't already started stripping down for bed.

The Atyilan jumped, staring at Ludwig almost fearfully. His painfully expressive eyes shadowed with guilt as he gulped. "Why did you have to follow me?" Ludwig hissed, trying to keep the volume of his voice down so as not to alert anyone else. He didn't want to have to explain things to Lovino or Callixtus. The blond took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Yes he was mad that Feliciano had followed him, but he wasn't here to yell, all he wanted to do was explain things and hopefully stop Feliciano doing something that could get everyone involved in a lot of trouble. Especially Gilbert. "Listen -"

"Please don't be mad, Ludwig!" Feliciano blurted, cutting Ludwig off in the process. "I didn't know what else to do... something was wrong with you and I had no idea what it was! You've been so distant lately and ... and I've been so worried! Not just me, either - Grandpa, and your father and all our friends too. And we were right to be!" Feliciano was trembling as he made his way over and clutched Ludwig's arm desparately. "He's dangerous! What you're doing... it could get you seriously hurt, or worse!" Ludwig couldn't bring himself to look at the expression on Feliciano's face. It was as desparate as the grip the smaller male had on his arm; pleading with him to see sense and reason. "After what happened to your eye, I don't want to see anything else like that happening to you, Ludwig! Not again!" Feliciano shook his head before burying his face into Ludwig's upper arm.

Ludwig opened his mouth to respond, only to find his arm being gripped tighter. "Is he the same one?" Feliciano's voice was soft and hesitant, like he almost didn't want to hear the answer. Ludwig's failure to respond caused the Atyilan to peer up at him again, and this time Ludwig wasn't able to look away in time to avoid it. "Tell me he isn't, Ludwig!" Feliciano begged.

The large blond sighed and looked away. As much as he wanted to say that, Ludwig was inapable of lying to his best friend. Instead he settled for a mumbled 'I'm sorry'. Immediately Feliciano whimpered and bit his lip. "Why are you doing this? You're going to end up turned or dead!" Worrying about the steadily rising volume of his best friend's voice Ludwig shrugged Feliciano off and took hold of both his shoulders, lowering himself so they were at eye level.

"Do you think I don't know he's dangerous?" Ludwig asked in a low and serious manner. "I know first-hand just how dangerous he is." he noticed that Feliciano's gaze automatically went to the scar upon his face. "Every single time I look at him I can't help remembering that night..." Ludwig sighed again. "But listen Feliciano, Gilbert is not a monster. Irritating and full of himself, yes; but not a monster." Feliciano frowned, not entirely convinced so Ludwig sat down in the rowan-wood chair near his friend's mirror.

"I used to think the same thing. That snarling, blood-thirsty creature with eyes like Hell couldn't be anything other than a monster." Ludwig admitted, something about being around Feliciano left him unable to hide anything. The small Atyilan always managed to get him spilling his guts unless he really forced himself to do otherwise. "But I was wrong, everyone is wrong about them. They're not monsters, Feliciano." 'Not all the time, anyway.' Ludwig wasn't going to lie to himself, he had only witnessed the beginnings of the monster showing through, but the monster only emerged so briefly. One night a month.

Feliciano gnawed worriedly at his lower lip. Ludwig believed what he was saying, but it was obvious that his best friend wasn't quite so convinced. As unsure as he was, the Relbinese male knew there was only one way to convince Feliciano of this. He would have to take the Atyilan with him to meet Gilbert as soon as possible. "Come with me tomorrow night. You can decide for yourself." It was hesitant but Feliciano did nod slowly in agreement.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~

"Ludwig, I'm not sure about this, anymore..." Feliciano whimpered worriedly, clutching his best friend's arm as they approached the Western Gate. Ludwig sighed, he wasn't surprised. All day Feliciano had been flitting around in an obvious state of worry. If it was anyone else he might have reprimanded them harshly but he knew the Atyilan didn't respond well to things like that so he just stopped and looked down at his friend.

"There is nothing to be scared of, Gilbert isn't going to hurt you. And if anything happens, I'm here. All right?" Apparently satisfied, Feliciano allowed Ludwig to lead him right up to the gate.

An agonized yelp echoed from around the corner, making them freeze. An odd sort of murmured chant which sounded vaguely like 'kolkolkol' along with sounds of pain, and the slamming of metal and flesh against flesh. "You are disgusting." the familiar, oddly high-pitched voice belonging to Gilbert's handler crooned sweetly. "Stubborn puppy ... will not let master teach him to behave. That is why I be punishing you, da?" Ivan chuckled darkly at the string of Sauprisian curses which then flowed out of Gilbert's mouth in response. "Silly Nichistokrovnii."

Feliciano clung even harder to Ludwig whose entire body had gone rigid. Ever-defiant, they could hear Gilbert retaliating to everything Ivan said to him, and even though each yelp and howl of pain grew steadily worse, as did the audible nature of whatever Ivan was doing, the albino refused to let him win. On some level Ludwig respected that, but at the same time he had to wish that Gilbert would let go of his pride, and save himself some of this misery. The only thing stopping him from rounding that corner and wiping that childish grin off of Ivan's face himself was the unfortunate fact that Ludwig stood no chance against an armed Handler who was also covered in armour.

The large blond clenched his fists, resting one of them on the wall. Every agonized vocalisation and harsh thud or smack made Feliciano flinch and Ludwig sick to his stomach. They couldn't leave, even with Feliciano's natural flight response. The two friends were rooted to the spot with a mix of horror and worry for the poor victim of Ivan's attentions.

A particularly loud snarl and a howl of pain from Ivan caused a sharp intake of breath from Feliciano and Ludwig to dig his fingernails harshly into his palms. In the back of his mind he was congratulating Gilbert on getting Ivan back, however Ludwig also knew that the Handler wouldn't take it lying down. Such actions would end up costing Gilbert quite dearly, if his suspicions about Ivan proved correct. Then again, Gilbert probably knew that already, having been stuck with Ivan for so long.

Finally regaining the ability to move, Ludwig hurried to peer around the corner - dragging Feliciano along with him at the same time. Ivan now had Gilbert pinned to the wall by his throat, all playful childishness having dissipated and been replaced with pure seething malice. Blood was running down his face and his left ear.

Feliciano's grip tightened so much that Ludwig had to bite his lip to keep himself from hissing or making some other sound that might alert the crazed foreigner to their presence. "You are very disobedient." Ivan snarled viciously. "Dogs should obey master's commands, or be put down!" Gilbert just glared defiantly at him, head held high despite having the air choked out of him. "You are lucky tonight, Sobaka. There is big celebration for young Alfred getthing his first charge. Next time you will not be. Next time, you learn your master's lesson, da?"

With that Ivan slammed Gilbert harshly against the wall once more, not even waiting to watch the albino collapse to the ground and gasp for air before he turned and left.

As soon as Ivan was out of ear-shot Ludwig raced around the corner to kneel next to the recovering Gilbert, one hand resting on the albino's shoulder as he examined the damage Ivan had left behind. Feliciano watched from a slight distance, letting the visual information sink in. He saw Gilbert force a laugh and try to shrug Ludwig off. "Seriously, West, he's not awesome enough to hurt me too much!" Ludwig had just growled and glared at the werewolf firmly. Eventually Gilbert allowed himself to be checked over in silence.

It somehow felt wrong to be watching this. Something in the tender worried glow in Ludwig's eyes, and the shameful downcast expression of the werewolf made feliciano feel he was intruding on something personal."I hate him, West. I don't care what happens to me afterwards I just want to kill the bastard!" Gilbert murmured and Ludwig hummed slightly in agreement, his jaw and shoulders tensing. Did they even realise what was there? If Feliciano knew Ludwig anywhere near as well as he thought he did, then probably not. Gilbert, the Atyilan wasn't sure about.

Still, whatever worries and doubts Feliciano had felt before were gone now, replaced with rare determination. After what he and Ludwig had just witnessed they just couldn't allow it to go any further. Especially since Gilbert seemed to be quite important to Ludwig now. The petite young man slowly approached and knelt down in front of both of them, arms and chin resting upon his knees as he looked at his best friend. There were so many things that could go wrong from what he was about to suggest, but this was for Ludwig. And for his friends, Feliciano would do anything.

"It's Gilbert, right?" Feliciano asked quietly, his voice shaking a little. Gilbert nodded silently in response, glancing sideways at Ludwig who was checking to make sure the albino had no broken bones or anything too serious wrong with him. Feliciano took a deep breath and sighed. "Well Gilbert ... we're going to break you out of here."


A/N: I'm so sorry that this took so long for me to post, but I've had to stay over at my workplace ever since last Thursday and I have only had tiny slots of time where I could work on this chapter. Hopefully something like that won't happen again, and I get to finally go home on Saturday! But only because I'm going to my best friend's mum's wedding reception that night which should be fun!

Anyway I hope you all enjoyed. Again please let me know what you think, anything at all is fine! Just let me know if there's anything I'm doing wrong or anything I can make a bit better. See you all next chapter!

Translations

Lei ha condannato coperto ritarda. - You damned overgrown retard

Nichistokrovnii - Half-bred, Mongrel or other such things (at least according to the internet, please correct me if you know I'm wrong!)