He was in an incredible amount of pain. He wanted to scream, but just the idea of moving anything brought him enough pain to stop the thought cold. His head felt like it was about to explode, if it hadn't already, and the rest of his body felt numb but excruciatingly painful at the same time. He didn't know how long he could take this before he snapped. But he'd felt like he'd snapped already. He couldn't think of anything but the pain, no memories, no thoughts. Just the pain that surrounded him, threatened to take him whole. It was a worse torture than he would ever hope on anyone else.

The screams were horrible. The woman sat at her desk, staring at the dark wood, forced to listen to the agony she had heard several times before. Usually, the people suffering wouldn't make it to the end of their transformations, the pain is too much for them to bear, but it seemed this one would make it. He'd lasted so long, anyway. The woman let out a shuddered breath as she attempted to focus on her work, but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, nothing would allow her to tune out those horrific screams.

She swiftly stood from her desk and marched out of the room, walking down the hall, towards the screams. She knew just who would be there and she needed to talk to someone. The screams reverberated on the walls around her, making them seem louder and she shuddered, but didn't lose her resolve. She felt the tears spring to her eyes the closer she got, until she saw the man she was looking for, slumped against the wall with bags under his eyes that she could see even under his glasses. He was usually so composed, but being forced to hear these screams for hours would drive anyone mad.

She quickened her pace upon seeing the man and swiftly pulled him into a close hug. He jumped slightly, but sighed and hugged her bag, tightly.

"Why did we have to do this?" she murmured to him, just loud enough to be heard through all of the screams.

"You know as well as I do," he said. "He knows the answers to the questions we've been asking and the only way we can go near him, legally, is if he's a mutant. I'm very sorry for all of this, Elizabeta." The woman, Elizabeta, shook her head into the man's chest, holding him as close as she could. The screams suddenly grew worse, the poor boy's voice cracking several times. "It's almost over. After all of this, I promise, we will get time off, go somewhere else. For a little while."

"This isn't right," Elizabeta mumbled.

He sighed heavily. "Need I remind you what mutants did to you in the past? These creatures need to be gotten rid of in some way. You know that."

"Which means this poor boy, who was a human before, is going to be killed, too," Elizabeta murmured.

"Sadly, yes," he nodded slowly, rubbing small circles into her back. The screaming suddenly stopped and Elizabeta tensed. It was eerily quiet, like in a horror movie before something bad is about to happen. They stood still for a few moments before he separated them slowly and carefully. "I must go. I'm very sorry for all of this, but it will all be over soon. We will have Energy in due time and then we can take a break."

"Be careful, Roderich," Elizabeta muttered and Roderich smiled at her before placing a small kiss to her lips. He nodded before walking just slightly further down the hallway before disappearing behind a heavy door. This was always the dangerous part, Elizabeta remembered. The subject was either dead, or alive and with no control of their new powers. She hoped Roderich would be safe.

"Gilbert, are you okay?"

"Gilbert?"

"Is he dead?"

"Of course he's not fucking dead! Right?"

"What do you think Alfredo?"

"Merde, Alfred?"

Gilbert took a deep breath, trying to collect himself. He was running on zero sleep, having been unable to do anything but stay up. He was covered in bruises he delicately covered with his clothing and some makeup thanks to him trying to stop some crimes. But he'd failed. Matthew was missing and he couldn't focus on anything until he figured out why or how. His friends were even worried about him. Feliciano carefully took his fork and was about to poke his cheek to get Gilbert out of his trance.

"Sorry," Gilbert muttered, shaking his head, glaring at the food sitting in front of him. Right, it was lunch. How had he made it through all of his classes so far if Matthew's desk was empty in every one of them? "Just…thinking."

"Well, stop it," Lovino snapped.

"Gilbert," Ludwig said and Gilbert turned his attention to him. "Are you alright?"

"'Course, West," Gilbert plastered a smirk onto his face, hoping he could fool his friends. It wasn't like he could tell them that he was out all night as Energy searching for Matthew. Not even Ludwig, who would scold him for doing something so dangerous to his health.

"Uh…Gil," Alfred finally spoke up, too. Gilbert had so many questions for the American, who had been sulking all day, too. Like where the hell he was the night before, did he see Matthew before he disappeared? The group seemed equally worried for the both of them. "Can I…uh…talk to you? In private? It's uh…it's about Mattie."

"Ja," Gilbert immediately stood up. Finally. Alfred slowly sat up and several people in the group looked between them.

"Where is Matthew?" Arthur finally spoke up as well. "He's been gone for two days now."

"He's…uh…" Alfred winced. "He's sick. Flu, you know." Alfred shrugged half-heartedly before slowly walking away. Gilbert followed him, past the rows of tables filled with happy kids all too easily ignoring the two depressed teens as they continued to walk. Gilbert grew impatient as he was forced to follow Alfred past the lunchroom and into the hallways, before going underneath some stairs, where no one was near to hear them.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" Gilbert snapped. "Where the hell is Matthew? Not sick, I know that much. I checked by your fucking apartment yesterday and neither of you were there!"

"He's not sick, he's…" Alfred paused before slumping against the wall and hitting his head slightly against it. "He's gone. I couldn't stop it and I'm sorry."

"He's…gone?" Gilbert's anger washed away, left with only confusion and a little bit of sadness. "What the hell do you mean?"

"These guys just came out of nowhere on the way to school yesterday and…" Alfred paused again, running a hand through his mussed hair. "They took him. I couldn't do anything to stop them, they tazed me…I…"

"Why…" Gilbert muttered. "Why would they take him?"

"I don't know," Alfred shook his head furiously. "They didn't even fucking talk when they took him."

"Did you see where they went?"

"No."

"He's just…gone?"

"I'm sorry," Alfred sighed. "I figured you should know. I don't want everyone else to know because they'll just panic. And I already tried going to the police, but they said they couldn't help me." Alfred slumped down to the ground and Gilbert felt his legs nearly give way underneath him. So Matthew was just gone? Forever? Without a trace?

"No," Gilbert shook his head. "He's not gone, we'll find him."

"How?" Alfred whispered out, his head in his hands.

"Get Energy's attention," Gilbert said simply. "He'll look. I'll look. You'll look. I don't care what happens, we'll find him. He's not gone."

Alfred looked up at him with sad, watery eyes.

"Who else knows?" Gilbert asked.

"Ivan," Alfred muttered. Gilbert groaned inwardly at the name. But he could help, too, he was useful in his own way. Despite being a fucking coward.

"Have him look, too," Gilbert stated. It wasn't an option. "Tell him to use everything he's got, too." Alfred nodded numbly. Gilbert held out a hand for him to stand and Alfred took it. "And quit apologizing. It's not your fault, you couldn't do anything, right? Now all we can do is get him back. And kick the ass of whoever took him in the first place."

"Are you sure Energy's gonna help, though?" Alfred asked.

"Positive," Gilbert nodded. "I'll give him a shout-out, too. Use Twitter or whatever you got. Get his attention and I'm sure he'll do it." In reality, no one had ever really gone to Energy for a missing person's case. He had no idea where to start or what to do. But he would be damned if he let those bastards do anything to hurt Matthew. He would find them and kill them all if he had to.

Alfred nodded, a little more resolutely and Gilbert smirked. Good, he was getting out of his pouty phase. Even with Ivan on their side looking for him, they stood a chance. Now they just had to play it off like Matthew had the flu and that was why he wasn't coming around to school for however long he was out. They quickly made their way back to the lunch room and the table and Gilbert immediately devoured the food he'd left.

"Well, it looks like Gilbert's back," Antonio chatted aimlessly.

"That sour face did not look good on you at all, mon ami," Francis patted his back, hitting a bruise right on. Gilbert bit hard on his food to make sure he didn't make a sound. "What did you two talk about while you were gone?"

"Just getting medicine to help Mattie," Alfred shrugged. "Gilbert's offering to help us out since we kinda need the money."

"Oh, if that is what you wanted, you should have come to me!" Feliciano brightened. "The Vargas company has been producing all kinds of medicine for years! What do you need, I'll help you out all I can!"

"Nah, it's fine, don't worry about it," Alfred shrugged.

"Besides, idiot," Lovino grumbled. "Grandfather wouldn't want you just picking and choosing random medicine for your friend. You wouldn't even fucking know what to pick and give him the wrong thing."

"This is why I'm happy the Kirkland Company focuses on technology, so I don't have to worry about things like that," Arthur sighed from where he was reading his book.

"I'm right up there with you, man!" Gilbert laughed. "The Beilschmidts don't have to worry about having a fucking medical degree before the next one takes over the company."

They continued their conversation, laughing and having a good time, forgetting about the previous depression of Gilbert and Alfred. However, Gilbert definitely didn't forget about the fact that someone had dared to kidnap his Matthew. He had plans for whoever the culprit was and he would make damn sure that they would pay.

Most of the pain was gone now, but his head still throbbed. He was sweating, it was so hot. He couldn't feel anything through his fingers, like he was just floating in blackness. He could hear people talking, just not what they were saying. Everything just merged into one confusing mess that he couldn't even try to understand. There was one word, however, that made it through his mind and repeated through it several times over, like a constant reminder. The word made him shiver and made him nervous, anxious.

Mutant.

I'm alive, guys! I really hated being gone for so long! In all honesty, I hadn't written at all in over a week, not even for a short story or anything, and I NEEDED to write something, so the first thing I wrote was a chapter for Newsworthy! Gotta love it!

Okay, so final reveal for the two voices up there, if you didn't catch that. We actually have a straight couple, what is this madness? Gilbert's hell-bent on getting Matthew back and I understand, I would be, too. He got Alfred's moral up as well, how exciting! I bet you all can't wait to see how all of this unfolds and I'm very excited. Literally everything's been completely planned out from the start and it's magnificent and I can't wait. Anyway, I'm rambling at this point, so…

Please review!