Elizabeta had expected many things when she opened the bathroom. She had expected Iain to be scowling furiously from the shower as he scrambled to find a towel, or maybe for him to be bandaging some scrape or another. What she was not expecting, was exactly what she found behind the once sealed door.

She wished she could say that she had never seen more blood, but of course the past few days would have made her a liar. Still, the staggering amount of blood splattered across the bathroom was enough to leave her reeling.

Blood streaked across the marble counters of the sink, trailed down the sides of the bathtub, and formed pools on the tiles. The sight was something straight out of a horror movie, and it left her feeling sick to her stomach.

Of course, sitting amongst the blood and gore, was Iain.

"Don' ye dare scream." He rasped, his crimson stained hands holding the end of an equally soaked needle and thread, the end of the thread already embedded in the Scotsman's chest. She was too stunned to move, he was in too much pain to care. Monotonously, he continued his stitches with a relatively steady hand completely taking no notice of her presence.

"I…Let me." Shaking herself back into reality, Elizabeta leaped forward and sat on the ground next to Iain, attempting not to sit in any of the blood pooled up on the floor.

He scowled at her as she sat, but grudgingly handed her the needle, allowing her to take over the last of his stitches.

"Why didn't you tell one of us?" She snapped after a moment. He chose not to answer; instead he stared fixatedly at the wall. She tried not to notice the thread as it wound its way through his skin, leaving little beads of red each time it broke the surface. She could see the pain in his eyes, but he was doing well hiding it, something she was finding he was extraordinarily good at.

"Don' look so mad at me; I would have told ya if ah had known ye wouldn't go screaming to Iggy and the rest." The sudden sound of his voice made her jump, luckily she had paused her stitching and she caused no damage to the man in the motion. He chuckled at the fury that appeared in her eyes in response to his amusement, his eyes sparkling when she glared.

Shaking her head irately she snipped the last of the thread and sat back to examine her handiwork. The stitches were even, clean. There would be scarring but, with the extent of his injuries, he was lucky to get away with just that.

"You're lucky you managed to get these sealed up…if you had waited any longer you might not have survived." She scolded harshly, keeping her voice low though at the moment she was sure she should cry out for the others just to spite the infuriating Scotsman. "You can't let yourself get like this Iain, if you were out in the humvee still, or if we were on the road…Iain we couldn't have saved you if you got some sort of infection."

"Ah can take care of myself." Iain growled, suddenly looking as angry as she did. Obviously by insinuating he might not be able to care for himself, she was striking some sort of nerve.

Iain chose to ignore the girl for the second time, his head pounding he tried to straighten using the bathtub as support, only to stagger back down again with a thump.

Groaning in pain he leaned back up against the bathtub and sealed his eyes, hissing out swearwords through his teeth.

"Idiot." Elizabeta sighed, grabbing the washcloth he had thrown into the tub and wringing it off. "If you really don't want them to know then at least clean yourself up, you look terrible." He snorted in vague amusement, rolling his eyes as she leaned in to dab his wounds clean.

Elizabeta noticed out of the corner of her eye that Iain watched her movements carefully, his emerald eyes glazed slightly, but still managing to focus on her without much effort.

"How did these happen?" She demanded, her hand gently brushing the skin of his chest. Sighing heavily Iain twitched at the contact, but did nothing to move away.

"The fresher ones…those are from the escape. Remember when that infected bastard landed on top o' me?" She nodded, pulling a roll of gauze from the med-pack and pulling it open with deft hands.

"And the others?" she demanded, guessing that the massive bruise on his chest could have come from no one else but Tino based on the shape and location. Iain paused a moment as he he lifted up his arms so she could begin to twine the white cloth around his torso. After a moment, he sighed heavily.

"My mum." He admitted gruffly, his gaze falling away from hers. "She got me pretty good the night she changed. I just didn't have the guts to defend myself…almost lost what guts I have because of it." He chuckled humorlessly. "I'll never hesitate like that again…if she had killed me…she could have…" he broke off, obviously not wanting to finish his statement.

"She could have hurt someone else?" Elizabeta's suggestion received a small nod from Iain, as reluctant as it was.

"S'pose she might 'ave." Iain muttered groggily, muttering something about needing to stop being emotional.

"You know, it's ok to show some concern once and awhile." She admitted with a small encouraging smile as she finished her wrapping and patted him gently on the cheek. He didn't look too terribly convinced of that."All better, see?" He shrugged, looking up at her with what could almost be a grateful smile. She grinned back, and blinked in confusion when he reached out and moved a lock of her hair out of her face.

"Thank you." He muttered, sounding genuinely grateful much to her surprise. Laughing slightly Elizabeta went to stand with a sigh only to pause when Iain grabbed her hand and pulled her backwards towards him.

She landed basically on his lap, squeaking in shock she looked up at him with wide eyes. He looked as if he was trying to say something, his eyes holding some look she could not place. Flustered she raised an eyebrow slightly, receiving another one of his smoldering stares in return.

"Elizabeta I…" He started, leaning in slightly. His face was only inches away from his when he hesitated; his breath dusting against her utterly dumbfounded face. His lips nearly swept against hers before he began to stagger.

Disconcerted she started to ask him what was wrong, what he was doing. Watching in confusion as his eyes rolled back in his head, and yelping as he slumped forward unconscious against her shoulder.

Of course his weight upset her balance, and Elizabeta found herself staggering backwards a bit before she could remove Iain from her person. Muttering to herself in irritation she sat up, supporting him with one hand and holding herself up with the other.

"Shit…I was expecting that." She sighed, leaning him backwards against the bathtub again. Pressing her fingers against his jugular she was met with a steady beat. He was just sleeping off the injury. Standing with a sigh she began to tidy up the space so that if one of the others came up the stairs Iain's secret wouldn't be revealed. She knew he was an idiot for hiding it, but if that was what he wanted then she would let him have his way. She would just need a bit of help carrying the Scotsman back to one of the rooms.

Once she was sure the room was spotless, and that her shirt and hands were as clear of blood as she could get them, she trotted down the stairs in search of help.

She came to a halt at the bottom of the steps, her hand gently grasping the ornate hand carved railing as she peered into the room where the rest of the group was gathered.

Feliciano was lazing on one of the couches, his head on Ludwig's lap, and was energetically telling a story from his childhood with a massive smile on his face. Most of the group was laughing along with him as they played cards with a deck that Tino must have provided. Tino and Alfred were taking shots from a bottle of vodka, something she wouldn't usually condone, but wasn't going to protest. Even Arthur seemed to be momentarily stress free, laughing triumphantly when he beat Alfred's hand. Everyone was behaving more relaxed then she had ever seen them, and in turn she felt more tranquil.

She knew that Iain needed to be moved, but she found herself hesitating a moment, enjoying the scene with a small satisfied smile on her face. It was relieving to know that her companions could still have a good time despite the situation they were stuck in.

"Do you want to join in?" Elizabeta jumped about a foot in the air when Gilbert's voice appeared right beside her. Looking up in shock she scowled in irritation at the man as he took a sip from the beer he had just plundered from the kitchen. "Or would you rather sit here and just watch?" She shook her head, remembering the reason she had come down in the first place.

"Iain needs some help…he um…well come on." She sighed, turning away from the group and snagging Gilbert's hand so she could tow him up the stairs.

"Wait…what happened?" Gilbert demanded, his eyes widening slightly at the idea of the Scotsman needing any sort of assistance.

"He had some wounds that he got awhile ago, they were stitched up but Tino kicked them open again. He was up here trying to fix them on his own like the stubborn oaf he is…" Gilbert nodded knowingly, urging her to continue as she paused by the door to the bathroom. "I helped him get patched up, but he passed out, and unfortunately I am not capable of carrying him out of the bathroom on my own."

"Why didn't you tell the others? Come get help?" Gilbert demanded raising his eyebrow questioningly, crossing his arms as her hand hovered over the door.

"He doesn't want Arthur to worry, well he didn't say that specifically, but I'm pretty damn sure that's his reasoning. Are you going to help me move him or should I try to do it on my own?" She demanded angrily staring defiantly up at the albino. Gilbert chuckled, and ran a hand through his silvery hair staring up at the ceiling as if truly contemplating letting her struggle to move the Scotsman by herself.

"Sure Liza, I'll help you move the Scot and I won't tell the others because I feel like being awesomely charitable tonight, but next time you come get me first if he's trying to do surgery on himself. That way I can be there if something goes wrong." She blinked in confusion, giving him a questioning look that he quickly shrugged off. "Just promise me ok?" She nodded, still baffled.

What is it with these boys tonight? She wondered as she popped open the door and Gilbert strode in to lift up the Scotsman. He hesitated in front of the man, obviously scanning him over for anything that might resemble a bite and checking that he was still breathing. She knew there were no bites, but felt no need to tell Gilbert. He would still check even if she insisted, that was the way they had to be now, never trusting each other to the full extent. It was a sad, but inevitable truth.

"How he managed to hide these are beyond me…" Gilbert's mutter was barely audible in the silence of the room. Shaking his head, he carefully hefted Iain's arm over his shoulder and lifted his deadweight into the air with limited amounts of effort. Striding past Elizabeta he grinned, his ruby eyes sparkling and making her smile back despite herself. "Coming Liza?" He demanded, blowing a lock of Iain's hair from out of his face in a comical fashion that made his nose wrinkle.

"Alright…do we just pick a room?" Elizabeta whispered as she followed after Gilbert in the hallway, smiling when the group's laughing voices rose up from the room below them.

"Any room but Tino's and his son's…" Gilbert grunted, pushing open a door and scanning inside. "Nope, this one is Tino's…" He muttered. "Ah…." He whispered sadly, shaking his head when she raised an eyebrow he shut the door and instead moved into a room further down the hall.

Curious, Elizabeta waited for Gilbert to disappear inside before she pushed open the door again. She instantly wished she hadn't as she felt a wave of sorrow well up inside her chest.

The room itself was practically empty of objects. All the furniture in the room had been removed save for a mattress and a small lamp. Spots where picture frames had once been stained the walls with the haunting memory of the life that had once been in the house.

What truly set her emotions off though, was the sight of four crosses, hand painted in different colors and designs that sat up against the wall next to Tino's mattress over picture frames filled with the faces of the dead. All that was left of his family.

How many people were like Tino now? How many people had lost everything they had to this crippling disease? Elizabeta herself had lost her family, her friends, everyone she cared for. Staring at the crosses she felt grief well up inside her in a wave, pulling at her heart stings until they screamed. Were they all alone now? She had lost everything, everyone she was close to.

She felt someone pulling her away from the door and turned, blinking tears from her eyes. Gilbert stared back at her sadly, his eyes knowing. Reaching forward he wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled sadly. He didn't say anything, just opened his arms and stared patiently down at her.

She made the choice to walk into them.

~X~

"So you'll come with us then…to the ocean? We could really use you out there Tino, and let's face it I don't think anyone in your family wanted you to spend the rest of your life here alone." Alfred sighed, swirling his drink inside his shot glass with a discerning eye.

Tino sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know Alfred…you all want to move out in a few days, and I understand that, but this is my home. I built it with my husband from the ground up, and I'm not sure if I want to leave it." Sighing Tino slumped further into his seat, his audience watching him curiously. "See up there? He did all of those birds in the molding by hand. It took him a month to finish those alone." Tino's eyes were filled with a reminiscent look as he stared up at the ceiling in adoration. "He even did the plumbing by himself…he wasn't very good at it and I had to call a plumber to finish the job, but it was all Berdwald's handiwork in the end." Alfred nodded knowingly, watching the Finn with empathy. Tino went on with his story after another drink. "We had a dog…just a tiny little thing. We had to dye him pink in the winter so we could see him in the snow." Chuckling Tino sighed and wiped his cheek. Alfred paused a moment, not sure how to respond. He had never had to convince someone to keep moving on before. Surprisingly enough, he didn't have to.

"This is truly a wonderful thing you've built, but Tino...answer me this: would you have wanted Berdwald to go on if it was him that survived?" Ludwig demanded, his eyes focused on Tino with understanding. "You have a choice to make. If you stay here you may live a long healthy life, but you'll be alone and I think that may be a fate worse than death." He stated harshly, "On the other hand if you go with us, you have a chance of dying that is most likely even greater than staying here, but at least you will have tried to live a life." The group stared at Ludwig in shock, they knew he was insensitive but…

Tino laughed.

Startled the group turned back to the Finn who was sipping at his vodka with a small smile on his face.

"You're right." He admitted, chuckling when the group's jaws fell. "Berdwald would be furious with me if he knew I was going to throw everything away. He would have gone on, and so will I. It's just like you said Ludwig… I'm going to live a life."

"That's good to hear." Ludwig grunted, ignoring the flustered looks most of his companions were sending him. "So you'll come with us?"

"I suppose it would be my best option right now." Tino shrugged, "I've got nothing left to lose."

"Then it's settled…welcome to the family Tino." Alfred beamed, extending his hand for Tino to shake. Hesitantly, Tino accepted the gesture.

"Family…well I like the sound of that." Tino laughed.

~X~