Germany hadn't slept in several days and had taken to pacing in his bedroom. He was turning his iron cross over in his hands compulsively. He didn't know what to make of anything, his brother had betrayed him, and now Austria was his only hope. He had waited for news from Austria for days, and now he was sick of it.

Suddenly the door banged open and Austria came through it, somewhat in a rage. Germany turned and faced him "How is he? How is my brother?" Austria took a deep breath before speaking "Would it be stupid for me to cry to you? There is no logic in it, but I need to". Germany was perplexed and had no idea what this had to do with his brother "And why do you want to cry? What is your verdict on my brother?"

Austria pulled out a chair and sat in it, his head in his hands "It's worse than I feared, much worse. He is still loyal to Russia, completely loyal. And every time I think of that barbaric sadist fucking Gilbert, my heart burns." Germany walked over to Austria and said "Take a breath and explain everything to me." Austria took a shaky breath and wiped the tears forming at the corners of his eyes "You have to understand, I tried just talking to him, but he wouldn't talk. So, I had to test his loyalty. I tried to seduce him".

Germany interjected before Austria could finish "You did what?" Austria replied angrily "Why do both you and your brother always interrupt me? Do Germans have no manners?" Germany reigned in his temper "I'm sorry, but I thought you said you seduced my brother." Austria started to cry slightly again "I tried to seduce him, I didn't succeed. Who was I kidding? He doesn't want me, he never did". Germany tried to make what Austria said make sense "Go back to the part where you tried to seduce Gilbert. What possessed you to do that?"

Austria tried to stop his tears "I was being selfish. I wanted to be the one to steal Gilbert away from Russia. He may be a stuck up idiot, but he doesn't deserve to be that sadist's bitch". Germany pulled up another chair so he could sit facing Austria "It sounds to me like you have feelings for Gilbert". Austria wiped away the tears that were forming in the corners of his eyes "Don't be stupid, I am married." Germany responded "That doesn't mean that you don't have feelings for someone else".

Austria took a deep steadying breath "On a different note, the best we can do for Gilbert is keep him away from Russia. If we do that, he will eventually see reason. But, it's going to get worse before it gets better". Germany saw the sense in the plan, but he had to ask "What do you mean by 'get worse', how much worse can it get?" Austria finally got control over his emotions "What I mean is he will suffer, and he will have to endure. It's like withdraw from a drug, there are symptoms. What I have seen so far is the shaking; you have seen the dreams and the speech".

Germany nodded "How long will he be like this?" Austria shrugged "I have no way of knowing, it could be anything from a couple weeks to a couple years. It all depends on how willing he is". Germany didn't know what to make of this; he had wanted to know what was wrong with his brother. And now he wished he had remained ignorant "I never would have thought any of this was going to happen. I thought when the wall fell I would get my brother back just as he was. How could I have been so naïve?" Now Germany could feel the tears forming in his own eyes.

Austria was about to say something when a ringing broke the tension. Germany sighed "I think your phone is ringing". Austria took an unfamiliar phone out of his coat pocket "This isn't my phone, its Gilbert's. I confiscated it when you brought him to me". Austria flipped it open and looked at it for a moment. All the color drained from his face "It's Russia". Germany responded quickly "And what does he want?" Austria read the text "It's a text, it says 'It's been a week, I am getting tired of waiting'".

A strange idea came to Germany "Tell him to meet me at Alexanderplatz at noon." Austria looked at him as though he was going crazy "What are you going to do? You surely don't mean to send Gilbert." Germany smiled "Of course not, I intend to confront this bastard. I want to see what he says about my brother".

Austria shrugged again "I won't stop you, but I don't think this is a good idea. Russia is manipulative; don't listen to a word he says." Germany replied stubbornly "I don't care, I need to confront him. Just send the reply" Austria complied and sent the message "There is no way you can back out of this now". Germany laughed "I don't want to back out"


Noon came and Germany was leaning against the international clock in Alexanderplatz plaza, he was wearing clothing he had borrowed from his brother. He knew that their builds weren't similar, but from far enough away it wouldn't matter. Germany had also washed out the gel he nearly always had in his hair, so that he looked more like his brother. He checked his watch again; Russia was already late by a few minutes. Then he looked up and saw him, a tall figure with a scarf in the crowd of people. He turned and headed towards where Germany was standing.

Germany knew his plan was working. Russia was almost right in front of him before he noticed. Germany could tell that Russia had noticed because he stopped walking, Germany made it clear that he noticed too "Were you expecting someone else?" Russia recovered quickly "I was expecting your brother. Where is he?" Germany felt somewhat triumphant "He is safe, far away from you". Russia smiled in a way that made Germany's skin crawl "Ah, I see. How cruel you are, to deny him what he wants". Germany retorted quickly "It doesn't matter what he wants, what matters is what is good for him".

Russia didn't seem fazed by the comment "I am curious, how did you find out? Gilbert was quite insistent that you never found out". Germany didn't like the inflection when Russia said his brother's name "You were betrayed by your own sister. Belarus told me about you and what you did to my brother". Ivan laughed; it was a laugh that could chill blood "Of course she would! But you must tell me, what did I do to him?"

Germany was livid "How dare you play dumb, you know exactly what you did. You're the reason my brother is suffering". These words didn't erase Russia's smile either "Am I really? Have you considered that perhaps you are at fault? You are the one who left him at the mercy of a man like me for so many years. You could have tried to reunite the country, but you didn't." What Austria had said about Russia came back to Germany, he was manipulative. Germany refused to believe that this was his fault "You can't turn this on me, I didn't hold the knife. I've seen the scars, I know what you did".

Russia still seemed completely unfazed "Yes, I held the knife, but it wasn't the torture that broke him. It was the feelings, and those are all of your doing." Germany still refused to think this was his fault "What are you talking about? I love my brother, and you can't break someone with love". Russia laughed that cold laugh again "So you say, but love is the strongest weapon."

Germany didn't try to understand, he didn't want to "Why did you take him?" Russia ignored the suddenness of the subject change "You know that, it was part of the punishment for the war". Germany clarified "I know that, but why did you take him? He told me that you wanted me." Russia laughed, louder that he had at any other point in the conversation "That was a ploy, I never wanted you. If I had asked for Gilbert, Alfred would have denied me. But he couldn't deny Gilbert's valiant offer to take your place. Why would I want you when I could have your brother?"

This new information hit Germany hard. Russia had planned it all? But how would he know that Gilbert would take Germany's place like that? Germany attempted to deny it "But how did you know he would take my place?" Russia knew he had the advantage now "Because I know Gilbert, I know how he feels. He loves hard, and he is fiercely protective of the people he loves. I knew he would rather die than watch you take the punishment".

Germany was seething now "So you preyed on his honor to get what? What does he have that you want so badly?" Russia was grinning now "Are you blind? Surely even you can see how beautiful your brother is. I wanted him for his beauty; it was just my luck that I got a Masochist with that beauty." Germany couldn't understand the last thing Russia said "Gilbert isn't a masochist!" Russia laughed again "This is surprising, I thought you would know. He must be very ashamed of it if he is hiding from you. Perhaps you don't know your brother as well as you think".

Germany was speechless, he was half convinced Russia was lying. He was half convinced he knew Prussia better than Russia ever could. He was seething with anger and all he wanted was to walk away from Russia. Russia watched Germany struggle with some pleasure, then he decided to goad Germany more "I'll tell you something else. Your brother is amazing in bed." he licked his lips to emphasize the statement.

Germany was trying and failing to retain his composure. He couldn't stand Russia talking about his brother like he was a whore. Russia laughed at the way Germany seethed. Germany decided that it was time to end this conversation "Say whatever you like. You won't get him back". The smile faded from Russia's face "Do you really think you can keep him from me?" Germany was on the offensive now "I know I can. Gilbert is just sick, and illness can be cured." Anger burned in Russia's eyes "He's mine; you won't take him away from me!"

Germany retorted "I can and I will. He is my brother, not your sex slave". Germany turned and walked away, as he did so he felt Russia's eyes burning the back of his head. He knew he had just started a battle of wills, and he was determined to win.


A/N: I am so sorry this is a day late, I am on vacation right now. And being the workaholic I am, I decided to finish this anyway. Enjoy! And please review

"I wanted always to be there for you and close to you. But I'm losing this and I'm losing you" -Broken Pieces by Apocalyptica