The atmosphere was oppressively heavy as Gilbert and Feliciano stood in front of Antonio's desk, it was only to be expected considering there had just been a death. The other twin had been completely inconsolable for the last couple hours. Even now, his cheeks were wet and his eyes were bright red. Gilbert appeared to be the only one who hadn't been crying. Antonio had fared; little better, his voice was almost completely gone from crying. His face was completely red and looked almost swollen. All the same, he was trying to speak with authority, "I realize that we are all a bit shaken, but it is our responsibility to keep order. I have ordered all the patients back to their rooms with at least one orderly at each door. The three of us need to talk to each of them individually. We need to rule out the possibility that this was organized."
Gilbert immediately scoffed, although it wasn't completely genuine because he knew that it was organized, "Natalia is a delusional girl, she's not capable of organizing anything. She did this because one of her visions told her to." It was not completely a lie because he suspected that Ivan had preyed on her delusions to manipulate her into killing. But, Gilbert desperately needed to convince everyone else that Ivan couldn't have been involved. Feli unexpectedly spoke, "Gil, it's better if we do. My family needs to know we did everything we could." The tone of his voice was strangely forceful, but it didn't convince the albino. He burst out, "But this is a waste of time."
Antonio cut in sharply, standing up as he spoke to attempt to convey more authority, "You don't have any right to talk, Gilbert. Natalia was on your caseload. You were responsible for her. So, for the rest of the day you are going to do exactly what I say. First, you'll go talk to your serial killer, then you'll talk to Natalia, and then you will come talk to me." The authoritative tone was enough to snap Gilbert back into obedience, he responded shortly, "As you wish." Antonio nodded shortly, "Good. Now both of you should leave, I have things to handle alone. I need to make some phone calls." With that, the other two left to take care of their separate charges.
As soon as they were out of the door and the door was closed behind him. Feliciano put his hand on Gilbert's arm to stop him. It was a soft touch, but it conveyed a lot. The albino looked over at the brunette with a sense of confusion, but didn't speak. The other said, his voice shaking slightly, "I went back to Lovi's room after he-" His voice faltered and Gilbert said softly, "It's ok, take your time." It was almost strange to see the grief of a twin left alone. In Gilbert's experience, it had always be imperative that the twins died within minutes of each other in order to keep the results of the experiments as error free as possible. The brunette took a deep breath before pulling a manila envelope out of the inner pocket of his jacket. He explained, "This was in Lovi's room. It has your name on it, so I thought it was only proper to give it to you." Gilbert took the envelope without question, but his curiosity was piqued. It seemed that this was all Feli could manage in the moment. He turned away and Gilbert could hear a small sob as the boy walked away.
Gilbert reached Ivan's room quickly and this time didn't even bother to pause at the door. The orderlies on either side of the door seemed to be watching him with a bit too much curiosity for his liking. But, it didn't matter. They couldn't have known what happened the night before. He entered the room. Immediately he noticed the difference from the night before. In the normal light of day, everything was reduced back to normal size. Ivan had a chair set up looking directly at the door. He had a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He started to speak as soon as he caught sight of Gilbert, "Weren't his screams of agony delicious?"
Gilbert responded sharply, "Is that what you did it for, to get back at Antonio for just flirting with me?" The other's expression slipped into something more quizzical, "That's part of it. I thought losing the man that he lost his virtue for would prove a nice little wake up for the priest. But, my other reason is in your hand. Open the envelope." Gilbert was dubious, but he knew by now that Ivan had a strange kind of clairvoyance. He took the envelope and opened it in a single motion. He removed a single file folder, which bore an eagle and a swastika on the front.
Gilbert's skin turned to ice as he realized what this must be. Sure enough, he opened it to see his entire military record. He had thought this had been buried in the chaos at the end of the war. It would have taken a lot of works to find these, let alone get them out of Soviet controlled East Germany. Lovino must have been quite busy to find these. There could be no doubt of the intention either. The boy had threatened to expose Gilbert, and this would have effectively done it. Suddenly, Gilbert felt no remorse at all about not being able to stop Lovino's death.
He looked back at Ivan and said, "Well, this changes things." The other responded, "You see, I had to get rid of him. If that file had ended up in your employer's hands, we would have been separated. I couldn't allow that, especially with the progress we have made recently." The albino took a couple steps closer to Ivan and said with a slight smile, "Then you saved me." Ivan's eyebrow went up slightly and he said, "And that's how you express your gratitude for it?" There was no pretense from either of them about this being a normal session. That would have been a complete farce. They both knew what had happened and there was no reason to pretend otherwise.
Gilbert responded, still standing a small distance away, "Oh, I should say thank you, shouldn't I?" Ivan smirked and kept his violet eyes fixed on the albino, "No, my dear. What you should do is come sit on my lap and whisper how grateful you are in my ear." Gilbert glanced at the door behind him to make sure that it was completely closed. The night before had felt surreal, but now was different. There could be consequences now, especially considering the situation. If anyone else talked about the connection between Ivan and Natalia, then Ivan would naturally be under suspicion. It would not do now to have this strange budding relationship discovered. The door was completely closed, so Gilbert turned back to the other with a slight smirk, "Are you courting your doctor?" The other responded with a hint of playful frustration, "No, I'm courting a Nazi. Now come over here." The albino sauntered over and sat resolutely in the other's lap, his legs straddling the other.
This felt right, even if the situation didn't make logical sense. Gilbert knew that this man had orchestrated another man's death, but on the grand scale of how much blood was on their hands this seemed insignificant. He put both of his hands on Ivan's shoulders and leaned in closer. He whispered, "Thank you for keeping my secret." He felt the other's hands moving up his thighs, eventually making their way to his lower back. The albino looked straight at the other and felt something rise in him, but he couldn't identify what.
He was about to speak, when Ivan said, "I know you have to go talk to Nat. I could also tell you what she's going to say, but you need to hear it from her. I just need to hear one thing from you: Did you enjoy last night?" He looked genuinely concerned. Gilbert responded quickly, and somewhat honestly, "I did. But don't ask for it to happen again." The look on Ivan's face indicated that he didn't believe the second half of the statement, "Then go. You've got some interesting news to hear anyway."
A pair of handcuffs restrained Natalia and there were white clad orderlies on either side of her who didn't leave the room when Gilbert entered. Again, he was struck by how much she looked like a little girl, with her eyes wide and staring. Her hands were still tinted red by the blood. Gilbert sat across the table from her and looked up at the orderlies on either side. He spoke to them first, "Please leave us, I need to talk to her alone." One of them responded, "Dr. Carriedo said we are not to leave her." Gilbert sighed and said as forcefully as he could, "And I'm telling you to leave. I am her primary doctor and this is my responsibility." The pair looked at each other, but decided to follow the order.
Once they were gone, Natalia spoke without prompting, "Why would you send them away? They're here to protect you from me." The albino responded resolutely, "I don't think you're a danger to me. I know who tells to kill." A new understanding dawned in her eyes and a smile fluttered across her face. She spoke quickly and almost frenetically, "You understand now, don't you? It happened just like he said it would. He took human form and he came to me. He's going to release me." It was clear to Gilbert that Ivan had manipulated a delusion in order to recruit an assassin. It was deplorable behavior and Natalia had been naïve enough to fall for it.
The albino looked at her sympathetically and said, "Ivan is just a man. I won't be able to help you if you keep listening to him." He didn't add that he understood the pull of Ivan's personality. She reacted at once, snapping back, "You're wrong! I know he's Lucifer; I can see it." There was an undeniable mania in her eyes and it was frightening. She had latched onto Ivan's lies, and it seemed impossible to dissuade her. If she continued to be convinced, Gilbert wasn't certain what he would do. With one doctor dead, there needed to be a breakthrough in this discussion.
Gilbert tried a different tactic, "How can he prove to you that he's Lucifer?" This attempt also failed. Natalia replied again, "I can see it. I saw his wings; I can feel his power." The word wing stuck out of the sentence. Gilbert immediately remembered the black wings he had seen in his trance the night before. Those had been a hallucination or something similar, it wasn't possible that he could be having the same delusions as Natalia. He shook his head and tried to dispel the thought. He looked back up at her and said, "He can't set you free. I don't care what you think he is. He's not here for you, I can promise you that." She shook her head and leaned back, "How would you know anything about it?" He slowly stood up, deciding that revealing his relationship with Ivan was not prudent at this moment. He took a couple steps back without saying anything. She tilted her head to the side slightly and said, "You have the mark of the beast upon you. He's touched you." Gilbert said, facing the door, "There's no such thing as the devil." In that moment, he had to question who he was actually trying to convince.
Antonio was still in his office when Gilbert came back. He looked as if he had taken the time to make himself look somewhat less shattered. It hardly made a difference, but it did indicate an attempt to mask the emotions. Gilbert spoke, "I'm back, Antonio. What do you want from me?" The Spaniard gestured at the chair across the desk from him. He didn't speak, but his meaning was clear. Gilbert took the seat and wondered what this could possibly be about. He couldn't be expected to report on anything this quickly.
Antonio pushed a form across the table to him and handed him a pen. Only when the albino was looking at the form puzzled did Antonio speak, "I need your signature to approve a lobotomy." Gilbert didn't need to ask whom the lobotomy was for, it was already clear from the events of the day. He couldn't allow this to happen when he knew that the fault didn't lie with Natalia. He refused to take the pen. He looked up at Antonio and said, "I won't sign this."
The Spaniard had a vicious look in his eyes that belonged to a vengeful man, and it was also clear in his voice, "This isn't a choice, Gilbert. This is only a requirement. She is a danger to everyone, so this must be done." The albino couldn't swallow his objections this time. He took the pen and immediately put it down. He spoke sharply, "I won't put my name on this." He tried to ignore the voice in the back of his head that pointed the irony of finally caring about his patient's wellbeing. The truth was that he didn't care about Natalia's wellbeing; this was a case of being unable to justify malpractice. When he had been an SS doctor, he had been working for an ideology and a greater good. There was nothing but vengeance in this.
Antonio smiled and there was something genuinely terrifying in it, "You will, or you will find yourself without a job." Gilbert growled, but held his tongue. He didn't have a choice; he couldn't leave anyone else with Ivan. He also couldn't deny that the idea of being away from Ivan now was painful. He picked the pen up and grudgingly signed the form. He slammed down the pen when he was done and said, "When is this going to be done?" Antonio grabbed the piece of paper and responded, "Tomorrow morning." Gilbert stood up and said, "May I go, boss." Antonio nodded, "But remember that I'm going to wake you early for the lobotomy. You'll need to be there."
A/N: I hope you are appreciating my fast updates. I return, I would like some reviews. I enjoy hearing what you think is going to happen next!