At the sound of the gunshots, Arthur ran back into the room.
"FRANCIS!" he screamed, running over to him only to be caught and pulled into Alfred's arms. "Let me go!" he yelled, tears starting to run down his face as he struggled to get loose. "He needs help!"
Alfred shook his head.
"No he doesn't. He's going to die and you're finally going to be free of him." A deranged smile appeared on his face and he held the Englishman tightly around the waist. "We'll finally be able to be together without worrying about him interfering!"
All Arthur could do was stare at him, mouth slightly open. He didn't want to be with Alfred! He wanted to be with his husband who loved him! Who had come all this way to save him! Who was currently dying because Alfred was too insane to realize how Arthur felt!
Behind them, Matthew stepped into the small apartment.
"Let go of him, Alfred! You've lost your mind!"
Jumping in surprise, the American turned around and fired again before truly seeing who was in the room with them.
"M-Matthew!" he yelled, shocked that he had shot his own brother and nearly releasing Arthur. Taking advantage of the slackened grip, Arthur tore out of Alfred's grasp and ran over to kneel beside the Frenchman but Alfred didn't even notice. He was too distracted with watching the younger blond collapse to the ground and look up at Alfred through hazy eyes.
"L-Look at things c-clearly," the Canadian forced out. "H-He doesn't l-love you! H-He never h-has! H-He loves F-Francis!" He paused to take a ragged breath. "L-Look at him! H-He's not at y-your side but h-his a-and he's t-terrified that h-he's going to l-lose h-him." Looking away from his brother Alfred saw that Arthur really was at Francis' side. He had the man's hand held tightly in his while his other hand was on Francis' face, trying to force him to look at him. Arthur had tears pouring down his face and was shouting at him to stay alive and that he loved him. Francis seemed to say something back that Alfred couldn't hear but Arthur heard it and shook his head quickly, telling him he was fine, he wasn't going to die. They were going to be together again and they were going to leave this terrible place. And Noel was going to get better. Things would be alright, they would be like before. Light seemed to be slowly fading from Francis' eyes but he smiled kindly and struggled to raise his hand to stroke Arthur's cheek. He whispered something before letting his hand fall back to the floor, his strength fading.
Alfred was confused by the scene. Why was Arthur so upset that Francis was dying? Wasn't this what he wanted? To be rid of the annoying Frenchman so he could finally be with Alfred?
But no…Arthur had said that he loved Francis. He had said that they were very happy together even if they didn't act like it at meetings; that was a front for the rest of the world to see.
Now he didn't know what to believe.
"H-He runs to h-him." The weak voice of his brother dragged him back to reality. "N-Not you…l-let him go…"
'What's happened to me?' Alfred wondered. 'I've kidnapped my friend and his daughter and done horrible things to them. That's not like me…I'm the hero but here I'm…the villain…have I truly lost my mind…?' He continued to stare at Arthur and Francis. Francis seemed to be on the very edge, eyes so clouded over he doubted the man could see anything, and Arthur was clinging to him like that would keep him tethered to Earth. 'I caused that…I caused Arthur to be…miserable…and heartbroken…and I didn't do anything to help Noel…and I shot my own brother, my best friend…and I…I…' Francis slumped to the ground. 'I-I killed Francis…I've caused so much misery to people I called my friends…' He lifted the gun to his head. 'I don't deserve to live while they all die around me…'
Arthur saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see the boy he had raised with the deadly weapon against his temple. His heart stopped. He couldn't let him die too.
"Alfred! No!"
The boy froze and gazed at his once caretaker.
"I'm doing you a favor, England," he said quietly, eyes on the ground. "You don't need a person like me in your life. I did so many things that I'll never be able to make up for it and I don't deserve a chance to try." His finger started to pull the trigger.
"Alfred, listen to me! It's true that you haven't been quite the hero lately but that doesn't mean we want you dead too! We all still care about you! You're part of our family even if you feel like you don't belong! You may have done some things that will be very hard to forget but we want you there while you try to fix things! We want you to come visit on the weekends, and have family dinners with us, and spend Christmas with us! We all do!" Once again tears were running down Arthur's face. "Francis and Matthew are going to be fine! We'll all be a family again! Just you watch!"
Arthur didn't care that he sounded just as insane as Alfred. He needed Alfred to stay alive. He couldn't live with losing all of them at once. He was completely in denial about everything going on around him and his mind was crumbling under the pressure.
For a long time Alfred simply stared at him, trying to process what Arthur had said. Slowly his grip on his gun loosened and it crashed to the floor. He fell to the ground next to it.
AN: I wrote a small bit to show how Arthur will be if he loses everyone. I might add it onto another chapter or put it at the end sometime. Originally it would go here but I don't want to spoil anything.