A/N: Hey Everyone! I am finally in a place with stable Wi-Fi! Though I had sooooo much fun in the Bahamas… it is nice to be back home. I just have to do A LOT of laundry now…

A/N: I had mixed feelings in the reviews about all this torture. It was nice hearing your feed-back and how you felt about everything so far. I decided that I am going to grant both of the 'side's' wishes. It is just one side is going to have to wait a while to get their wish. If any of that made since, then you are immortal. Lol. Enjoy this chapter and Review at the end!

No More

"I get it Arthur. No more," Alfred said to me, as Matthias prepared his weapon for the final torture, "I just don't know how."

I stared at his bloody, beaten up face as he stared back at mine. We were still in the cold, and I couldn't feel my legs. I tried to move around under the chains, but nothing in my body obeyed the actions that my brain was telling it to do.

"Alfred?" I called out to him, as the wind picked up around us. He whispered back, "Yes?"

"Could no more mean… No more of us? I-I am done. I can't move, and he is going to kill us. Alfred, I give up," I said. I didn't want to say that! What was I saying? I felt like I couldn't control my words. I couldn't control what was happening.

"I do too," he replied, smiling. That wasn't like him either! What was going on? He would never give up. He would keep trying until his heart stops beating. He is the hero! He is 'my' hero.

I heard the noise of a door slam, and looked towards the abandoned row of boxcars. Matthias was walking to us with a knife and a sinister grin across his face.

I looked to Alfred to see him smiling. His eyes started to close, as he whispered, "No more!"

What? Was he giving up without me? "No, No, No, No, NO! Alfred please don't leave me here alone. You can't die! I need you! Please don't give up. We – I – You can't just leave me here!" I started to beg and plead, with tears falling from my eyes.

Alfred was giving up. He was dying. He was leaving me here alone. I – I – I – want to give up-!

I didn't even notice how close Matthias got to the both of us, until he sunk his blade into my chest. "Alfred!" I called out as my last words. The physical pain was no match for my mental pain at this point. It was almost as if there was no pain at all from the knife. My mind started to go black, as-

I woke up.

I was hyperventilating as I started to process the world around me. It was just a dream. A horrible, terrible dream. In the dim light of the sun just starting to rise, I looked down at Alfred who was still laying in my arms. My legs had gone numb due to his weight, so I guess that is why I couldn't move in my dream.

"Alfred?" I said to him, my voice shaking, making it almost a whisper. I moved my cold hands up his back, and said louder, "Alfred, please wake up."

I needed to know if he was alive. If he didn't give up.

To my relief, he shifted his body a little bit, and stared up at me with a small smile on his face. When his eyes landed on mine though, he frowned again, and looked down.

"Today is our last day, huh?" he mumbled, as he rested his cold face on my chest.

Even though he hadn't completely given up on living, the way he was acting was as if he had given up a long time ago. Now he was just going through the motions.

In an attempt to cheer him up, I said, "Oh, don't give up so easily. Who knows, maybe the final torture is for us to be forced to listen to terrible music for at least an hour a day for the rest of our lives."

I feel like I was trying to assure myself to not give up more than him.

I laughed a little at my droll joke, but smiled softly when I heard Alfred laugh along with me. He looked back up again at me, this time not losing his smile, and said, "This is one of the reasons why I love you."

He wrapped his arms around my back, making me shiver when his cold hands touched my skin. He pulled himself up higher to me, and lightly pressed his lips against mine.

This was much gentler than any of his other kisses, but I don't think either of us were strong enough for anything rougher. It was short lasting too, because both of us were weak, but it was still sweet.

When he pulled away, he switched our positions in one swift move, where I was leaning against him now. Surprised by the abrupt change in positions, I said, "Ah, so you have your optimism back?"

"Oh ya. I have a feeling we are going to get out of here." he replied, wrapping his arms around me, as I laid in his embrace.

"That's my hero," I said into his chest.

There was a sudden silence between us though. It was one that was unsettling since usually when I mentioned a hero, Alfred would get annoyingly enthusiastic. But this time, I could hear his heart beat get slower underneath my ear, and his chest relaxed a bit more.

"I…I don't think I want to be a hero anymore, Artie," he finally admitted, as he rested his chin on top of my hair. What? Just when I was starting to think that maybe he didn't give up after all…

"What? Why? That is who you are!" I protested, looking up at him, staring straight into those sky blue eyes.

He stared back into my eyes, and said, "I know, but look at where that has gotten us. We wouldn't be here, if I didn't try to act like such a hero."

"No," I said, closing my eyes and shaking my head, "No, you are wrong. Thanks to you being a hero, we made it this far. We probably would have died back at the gas station if it weren't for you."

He smiled a little bit, but it wasn't his normal smile. It was more… sad, like he was only putting on a show for me.

He was always acting like a hero without realizing it.

He closed his eyes, and breathed out, saying, "I am starting to wish that we did die back at the gas station, if we couldn't avoid them at all, of course."

There it was. The proof that he had given up. His wish for death was just thrown at me like a bag of bricks to the face. And just as fast as he said his last statement, I started to cry into his chest. I didn't care if he liked it or not. He was the reason I was crying.

Seeing such a strong, brave person like him give up, broke me completely.

I couldn't hold any of my emotions in when I was around him, dammit. This was all too much now. At least when I was being tortured, I had him to look to. I had him to assure me everything was ok. But now, my oar that I was barely holding onto in the rapid waters was sinking, and I was sinking with him.

"Arthur. Arthur?" I heard Alfred say, as he brushed his fingers through my hair. I looked up at him, unknowing of my tear stained face and tired eyes. His breath was hitched when he saw the sight of me.

He then asked, "What is wrong? Why are you crying?" He brushed my hair out of my face, and used his other hand to gently wipe away some of my tears with his thumb.

I was about to answer him, but I choked up on my words, and started to cry again into his hands.

"Dammit, why is this so hard?" I strained to whisper, as I cried.

He moved his arms around my back, and pulled me close into his chest again. As he rocked me back and forth, he whispered, "Shh, its ok. Tell me on your own time, ok?"

"Ok," I whispered, trying to avoid his burned spot on his stomach, but it was too close to me. I then thought of something. "No," I said, starting to get up, as I wiped more tears from my eyes, "We don't have time. We have to get out of here, now."

Alfred gave his fake smile, again, and said, "That is a great thought, Artie, but how exactly could we get out of here, and where would we go?"

"That is exactly what a person who has given up would say! Oh shoot, I am turning into you, Alfred. You better become the hero soon, or else I will make it so you wish you were the hero so you could save yourself," I joked, smiling slyly at him, though tears were still running down my face.

He laughed a little, and said, "Ok, ok. I get it! So, what is your plan?"

I looked around to see if any lights were on in Matthias' boxcar. It was completely dark and quiet, so we still had time to at least try to escape. It's not like we had anything to lose, right?

I turned to Alfred, and whispered, "I think if I try hard enough, I can get out of these chains. If I am out, then you will have no problem getting out too. After that, we just run. We have to be near some kind of road or rail road station for there to be boxcars, right? We can get help there!"

Alfred hesitated for a moment, as he gathered his thoughts. When he finally figured out the words to say, he warned, "Ok, but when you are getting out of the chains, they are sharp. You can get really hurt, so be careful ok?"

"I will, I promise," I said, before I quickly pecked his cheek, and started to get out of the chains.

I started to shimmy out of them, which was, at first, going well, but when I got to my hips, the chains started to tug at my skin. Sometimes they would only pinch my skin, only making Alfred nervous, but not really hurting me. Then, some would actually cut deep cuts into my skin that made me cry out.

By the time I was only getting cut on my knees, my waist, hands, and hips were covered in cuts and blood, and Alfred was a nervous wreck. I finally stepped out of the chains, and let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in.

I was out and free! Of course, my body felt like I just went through another torture session, but I had no time to complain about that. I had to get Alfred out, and then we were to be on our way to freedom!

I turned to Alfred, and said, "Plan is going great so far!"

I was expecting to see him smile due to the sudden hope, but instead, I saw that his face looked scared have to death. I followed his eyes to where he was looking, and found that behind me, Matthias' boxcar light had turned on.

Ok. Does that stupid wanker have to ruin every single good moment I have? Bollocks…

I immediately turned back around to Alfred, and whispered to him, "It is too late now to go back on this plan. Get out of there and come with me!"

Alfred quickly nodded his head, and started to get out of the chains. As he was easily getting out, he said, "You go without me. I will catch up. It is better if one of us is guaranteed to make it, so we can for sure get help, ok?"

"I am not leaving without you, Alfred. Now hurry the Hell up, already!" I whisper/shouted, gesturing him to hurry. He finally stumbled out of the chains, and fell to the ground. As he clutched his burn, I ran to him to pick him up.

"Hurry up, Alfred!" I panted, as I tried to pick him up. Alfred finally got control of his limbs, and stood up. The fear in his eyes when he looked up at me was confusing at first, but I finally understood when I felt the barrel of a gun against my head.

I closed my eyes, expecting to hear the sound of the trigger being pulled and my life end. But instead, all I heard was laughing. It was Matthias' sinister laugh that I actually feared very much.

I opened my eyes again, and stared at Alfred just to make sure that he was the last thing I saw, if Matthias decided to pull the trigger.

With little hope of actually being able to hold his hand, I lifted up my hand to grab Alfred's. He tried to make as little movement as possible, as he caught it, and squeeze my hand between his four fingers and thumb.

"You know," Matthias laughed, finally saying words between his breaths, "I think it is really cute that you guys thought you could escape."

Alfred and I didn't answer. We just kept our eyes on each other. It was almost as if we were having a silent conversation… Or – I guess, a silent goodbye.

"But," Matthias continued, "You guys' failure of an escape plan gave me a great idea. An idea I think you guys will enjoy."

I saw Alfred grit his teeth at the sound of another one of Matthias' plans. This never went anywhere good, and both of us knew it.

Matthias punched me into the back, making me stumble onto Alfred. He caught me, and held me in his embrace, like I would vanish if he let go. I can't say I didn't do the same though.

I seriously thought that was the end for me, but here I was, having a second chance to be in Alfred's arms again. It felt great, but for the past few days these great feelings didn't last long…

Like I thought, Matthias started to speak again… ruining the moment of reuniting.

He said, "You guys act like you haven't seen each other in ages! You will have plenty of time for… that… later if you win the game I just made up."

"Game?" Alfred asked, still not loosening his grip around my waist, "That sounds like something out of a Saw movie, and I'd rather not play any games like that."

"Getting cocky already, Alfred? You might not want to test your luck. I could give you several disadvantages for the game we are about to play," Matthias said, making Alfred bite his tongue to keep from talking back anymore.

He continued, "The game I guess you could say, is cat and mouse. You run and try to escape me while I hunt you down. If you win, and I can't find you after two days, I will never try to kidnap or kill you ever again, if you lose, then I killed you! Doesn't that sound fun?"

I stared up at Alfred to see his reaction. I could see confusion, hope, anger, happiness, and sadness in his eyes. The feelings in his eyes made him look like he was lost in thought, while trying to think of ways to kill Matthias.

"I will give you guys a tiny advantage, if you don't mind," Matthias continued speaking, "I'll give you both a five minute head start. Ok?"

Alfred snapped out of his thoughts, and said, "Yes." He grabbed me tighter, and started to slowly back away from Matthias.

Matthias started to wave us away, and said, "Goodbye! See you guys soon!"

Alfred turned away from him, forcing me to turn around too. "Come on, Arthur," he whispered, as I managed to start walking away on my own.

Alfred started to run faster, as he clutched his burn. As I caught up with his pace, and we started to enter the woods in the direction we were planning on going, I asked him, "Do you really think we have chance?"

He glanced back at me, and asked, "Where did all the optimism you had, go? There's finally real hope for us, Arthur! And I am not planning on letting it slip through my fingers that easily."

And with that, we were off. Off into the woods that held whether or not we were going to be free. It wasn't up to anyone at this point as to where our fate was headed. But all of that didn't matter. All I knew what Alfred was back. Not entirely, but he was back.

He was taking me out of this darkness. My oar was staying afloat, and I couldn't be any more happier.

A/N: Yet another chapter has been posted! How did you guys like it? Please – Please – Please tell me in the reviews! I love reading them! Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have a great day!

NorwegianPilot17 J