Man, it's been a while. Like, a long while... Sorry guys. Just stuff with life and other stories and laziness. I did not mean to make you guys wait so long! DX I am sorry. Hopefully this chapter is good enough (And it's longer-ish than previous chapters! Look at that!) to make up for the long wait?

Awesome song that I sing everywhere: Feel Alive by Quietdrive. It's so good guys, no joke.

Last time I checked, I didn't own Hetalia. Pretty sure that hasn't changed.

The Next Day

Gilbert tapped the wall next to him impatiently. It was already evening of the next day and he hadn't seen Ivan at all. Gilbert was beginning to wonder if Ivan forgot, or if he didn't even plan to go through with it in the first place. Maybe he had just been playing with Gilbert for his own entertainment. That's what the Ivan Gilbert knew would do. But there was something different about Ivan. He's not how he used to be. Before Gilbert left Ivan was . . . evil. He had a smile that could scare even the fiercest of Commanders and was always picked for the interrogations because he always succeeded. The scariest part though, was that he seemed to enjoy it. He seemed to take pleasure in making others tremble. Gilbert was one of the only ones to stand up to him, which made them bitter rivals.

And Ivan had still been like that when he first came into the interrogation room. Gilbert could tell Ivan was enjoying his pain. He looked down at his finger, which had stopped bleeding but still throbbed painfully. Ivan had still been Ivan then, but when Gilbert spoke, Ivan completely changed. It was if a mask had slipped off, revealing a completely unexpected true nature. From what Gilbert had seen, Ivan was . . . scared. Of what exactly, he couldn't be sure. But the Ivan he saw when talking about Ludwig, while in the hallway, was a frightened but caring person. One who would never be cruel enough to hurt someone. Gilbert didn't know how it happened, but it did.

Ivan had changed drastically while Gilbert was gone.

It must have been something pretty intense to put Ivan's mind in a sane place. Gilbert wondered what could have happened, but before he could ponder more his cell door clanged open with the tall man standing outside. Gilbert released a breath he didn't know he was holding. Ivan was here. This was really happening. Ivan stared at him without a smile, but his face wasn't unkind. Gilbert could not get used to that foreign expression on Ivan's face.

"Time to go," Ivan said, gesturing with his head and putting on the sweet smile.

Gilbert quickly stood up, energy rushing through him. "Wait, isn't there a camera right out there?"

"I took out the batteries of that one and a couple of others," Ivan told him, moving aside as Gilbert came out of the cell. "It will give us some time, but they will notice. We have to be fast."

Gilbert nodded, then pursed his lips, debating. He still didn't trust Ivan, he still suspected something darker just waiting to happen, but he didn't see any other way to get this done. "There's someone I need to pick up before we go."

"Your brother?" Ivan immediately asked. Gilbert didn't like how quickly he knew. "I already talked to him. I'm sor—. . . He said he still wasn't going to come."

Gilbert's heart sank, but he narrowed his eyes at Ivan. "You talked to him? Sure. Take me to him, he'll come."

For a brief second Ivan looks hurt by the mistrust—which, considering their past, wouldn't make sense—but it's gone before Gilbert can be sure. His expression now is slightly annoyed. "Gilbert, we don't have time. I promise you, I tried to get him to come, but he refused. Trust me on this, we need to get you out of here before they notice that the cameras are out."

"I am not leaving without him," Gilbert said forcefully, immovable.

Ivan's eyes actually saddened on behalf of Gilbert. Gilbert's eyes widened. "I know, but you have to. He'll be fine here. I'll look after him. You don't have to worry."

Gilbert stared at this new Ivan, surprised that he actually seemed trustworthy. He shook his head and recovered. "You don't understand. You have no idea what they'll do to him. Despite your best efforts, you won't be able to stop them. Trust me on that one. Ludwig needs to leave."

Ivan's eyebrows drew in. "'Them'? Who's 'them'? What are you talking about?"

Gilbert growled in frustration. "Nevermind. You'll never know anyway, but Ludwig needs to get out of here before anything happens to him."

"What will happen to him?" Ivan actually looked worried. Gilbert couldn't wrap his mind around this change. Why did Ivan care so much for Ludwig? This question frightened Gilbert.

But Ivan's question also brings up painful things that Gilbert doesn't want to remember. He looks away from Ivan and takes a shaky breath, closing his eyes as he pushes the memories away. When his heart beat slows he turns back to Ivan, who's raising his eyebrows at him in skeptical confusion. Gilbert hardens his face so Ivan wouldn't be able to see anything.

His voice had only the slightest tremble that he was sure Ivan couldn't hear. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Ivan's face darkened with annoyance. No one ever liked that answer. Gilbert continued anyway.

"You will take me to see him. I can talk some sense into that thick skull of his. I am not leaving without him, even he doesn't think he wants to leave—"

Ivan shook his head. "No, you don't get it. At first he was going to come."

This made Gilbert pause. He narrowed his eyes again. "What?"

Ivan's eyes softened the tiniest bit. "I could see it in his eyes. After a long moment of thought—I think he was remembering something—he was about to agree to leave, but something stopped him."

Gilbert was suspicious. "What could've happened to stop him?"

Ivan shrugged. "I don't have any idea, but you're missing the point. Gilbert, he has a reason for being here."

Gilbert looked away to hide his hurt. "Yeah, he told me what it was."

"No, it runs deeper than that. There's something he's not telling you.

"He tells me everything."

"He didn't tell you he was coming here.

Gilbert scowled, but couldn't think of a comeback.

"I think he's hiding something." Ivan sounds pretty sure. "He saw something in the past, and that made him have a reason to come here. I think he's doing this for something. If he wasn't, I'm positive he would be here with us right now."

Gilbert shook his head. "I don't care. I can't let him stay here. I need to get him out."

Ivan reached out and took Gilbert's shoulder. "Gilbert, you need to trust him."

Gilbert was speechless. Ivan's hand was firm but gentle on his shoulder, and his strange violet eyes stared into Gilbert with a solid certainty. He knew what he was talking about. Gilbert now had no doubts as to whether Ivan had really talked to Ludwig or not. He had seen the battle Ludwig had had with himself.

Maybe Ivan was right. Gilbert was so scared about what could happen that he didn't consider why Ludwig was doing this. Maybe there was a big secret reason behind it. Ludwig could be hurt so badly, and this sent an instinctive protective reaction running through Gilbert, but Ludwig was strong. Stronger than Gilbert in some aspects. Gilbert's protective side was blinding him from seeing that Ludwig was older now. He wasn't a little, dependent boy anymore. He could make his own decisions and face the consequences on his own. He didn't need Gilbert to protect him.

It was time that Gilbert had to be confident in Ludwig, and that he knew what he was doing.

For reasons Gilbert couldn't fathom, this scared him. Terrified him. He didn't want it to be true. The thought of Ludwig not needing him . . . It left him feeling cold inside. Forgotten.

His voice was weak when he tried to argue. "But it's dangerous."

Ivan gave him a comforting smile, squeezing his shoulder gently. "I know, and I can tell you really love him, but Ludwig needs to face those challenges alone. He needs to learn for himself. He's strong enough to do it.

Gilbert stared at Ivan, at the smile that he had never seen there before. Images of his nightmares flickered across his mind. He didn't want that to happen to Ludwig—Dear God in Heaven, every fiber of his being desperately wanted to do anything to keep those things away from sein kleiner Bruder, but he couldn't keep the boy locked up in their house for the rest of his life. That was unfair to Ludwig, who had so much potential. It was time to face the facts. Ludwig was his own person who needed to live his own life. Ludwig didn't need Gilbert.

Ludwig didn't need him.

Gilbert felt something crumble inside him and he deflated under Ivan's hand, but he nodded in agreeance. Ivan looked worried for a moment, as if he knew what was going through Gilbert's mind, but then they both stiffened in realization. They both turned and looked at the hand that was still on Gilbert's shoulder, then stared at each other. They both felt it. A connection between them that wasn't there before. One they didn't necessarily want to have. Ivan snapped his hand away and Gilbert shook his shoulders, both trying to get rid of the contact. They turned away from each other and dropped what they were feeling before, for now at least. A very awkward silence filled the space.

Ivan cleared his throat, still not looking at Gilbert. "We've already wasted a lot of time. We need to get going."

Gilbert raised his arm towards the empty hallway. "Lead the way, Nero-Giant."

Ivan sent him a glare hidden behind a smile and they both felt a little better. He came closer and roughly straightened out Gilbert's wrinkled and used uniform. It was dirty and looked slept in—which it had been—but because it was black it should look decent enough for people who happened to glance at him. If anyone were to look for too long though it would look suspicious.

Ivan glanced at Gilbert's face, his mouth twisting a little. "You're so obviously you. How did you ever stay hidden from us?"
Gilbert smirked. "That's a secret."

Ivan poked the albino's forehead hard, smiling sweetly. "Where's your hat? We need to cover that hair of yours. It's a dead giveaway."

Gilbert rubbed his forehead and scowled at him before perking up. "Oh yeah, I forget. It's in here."

He hurried into the cell and grabbed the hat, putting it on as he walked back out. Ivan gave him a final look over before nodding.

"It'll do. Now let's get going." Ivan began to walk down the hall, keeping close to the wall. Gilbert followed suit. Ivan lowered his voice in case of others that might walk the halls. "We'll be going over the wall between watchtowers two and three."

Gilbert nodded. Those two towers were the farthest apart, and therefore had the biggest blind spot. It was a little farther than ideal because they were in the basement and that wall was on the east side, but it was the best option. Ivan stopped him at a corner and looked around it with one eye. After a moment he nodded that it was clear and they continued forward. They walked with practiced silence, both trained on how to sneak.

They made it up to the ground floor without any problems. Now they just had to get from the southwest corner to the east wall. Almost directly across the base. Fun. As they were walking Gilbert stopped Ivan and gestured with his head toward a lit-up open free-time space that could be seen outside the window. The areas were kept bright during the night for reasons like them, but it was empty. If they cut across it it would save so much precious time.

Ivan frowned, then shook his head no. It was too risky for his taste. He turned to keep going straight.

Gilbert wasn't going to give up that easily though. "Come on. Going around will take so much longer and we don't have much time. Let's just cut through."

"Absolutely not. We'd be sitting ducks out there," Ivan replied. "If someone just happened to glance out the window we would be spotted."

"So we run. It'll take us, like, three seconds to get to the other side," Gilbert argued. "No one will see us."

"You don't know that," Ivan whispered roughly.

"You don't know that someone will," Gilbert shot back.

Ivan was about to argue when they heard a thump and someone cursing in the hallway leading to theirs. The two sneaking froze as there was shuffling and the person cleared his throat. Then footsteps were coming in their direction. Ivan and Gilbert started quietly shuffling back down the way they came, but they heard another set of footsteps coming from that direction.

"Outside," Gilbert whispered.

"Outside it is," Ivan agreed.

As quickly as they could without making noise Ivan opened the door with his pass and they ducked under the windows. They waited a long moment in silence, then Gilbert chanced a quick peek into the hallway. He swiftly glanced both directions before lowering and nodding at Ivan. Without speaking, they both began to run across the bright space, keeping low and fast. They watched the windows, but they couldn't see inside with the light shining on them, casting a glare on the glass. They made it to the other side without any incidents and Ivan opened the door soundlessly.

Right when he stepped in Gilbert saw the Officer standing at the end of the hall. When the Officer reached up to switch on his earpiece Gilbert was already rushing towards him. Gilbert swung his fist, which the Officer ducked and twisted to avoid. He spun around Gilbert, but Gilbert followed his movements. He threw his fist again and the Officer blocked it, aiming his own punch that Gilbert deflected. This was a more experienced Officer, trained. Gilbert stepped forward as he he kicked and punched, making the Officer step back. He managed to land a few good ones on the Officer, but he got a few bruises in return.

Until the Officer ran right into Ivan.

Before the Officer could turn Ivan wrapped his big arms around the man's head and throat. Gilbert recognized the hold and his eyes widened. He looked up at Ivan's face and saw the old familiar crazed evil flickering in the big man's eyes. Not wanting to see the violent death he turned his head away. After a moment of not hearing the sickening snap he glanced back at Ivan.

The tall man's pale eyebrows were screwed together and his hands were trembling around the Officer's head. Gilbert watched with wide eyes as Ivan seemed to fight back the psychotic pleasure of violence. Ivan closed his eyes and his breathing became pushed and uneven. The Officer's eyes were wide and scared, but he couldn't get out of the bigger man's hold. Ivan's hands shifted so that the man's head was put at an odd angle, he seemed to be losing the battle with himself. A small whimper escaped the Officer's lips as his neck was strained the wrong way and that pushed Ivan's sanity into winning.

The violet eyes snapped open with horror and Ivan released the Officer's head. Before the confused man could react Ivan whacked him in the perfect spot and he crumbled to the ground, knocked out. Gilbert stared at the still breathing body for a moment before shifting his eyes to look at Ivan, who had backed away from the other two and was leaning against the wall, holding his head. His breath was still coming out in shallow gasps and he tried to collect more. He stared at the Officer with a look of horror and fear. Fear of himself.

Gilbert blinked at him slowly once, then again fast. The Ivan he knew never would have hesitated before snapping the Officer's neck. In fact he would have enjoyed it. The Ivan he knew would have killed the man and then laughed about it later. That was not what he was seeing in front of him now. The person he saw now was terrified. Ivan stared at his hands as if deadly knives had sprouted out of them. Gilbert noticed that the tall man was shaking and his eyes were open, easy to read. He seemed so utterly scared, scared of what he'd almost done, of what'd he done so many times in the past.

Ivan had defiantly changed while Gilbert was gone.

Now, instead of the evil monster, he was a terrified . . . child.

Ivan looked up and met eyes with Gilbert. For a moment, they held nothing back. For just a few seconds, Gilbert saw into Ivan's broken mind. Then Ivan cut him off, throwing up a wall of smiling to block out everything else. He stood up straight and stared at Gilbert with the happy mask that Gilbert was growing used to.

"Come, we must hurry," he said, gesturing with his head before walking down the hall.

Gilbert sped to catch up, getting to a regular pace beside him. He watch Ivan from the corner of his eye. He just didn't understand what was going on with the big man. Before, at least he could predict what Ivan was going to do or how he was going to react. Before, it wasn't that hard. Now, now he had no idea what Ivan would do. It made him nervous.

It also made him curios. "What happened to you?"

Ivan glanced at him and Gilbert saw a spark of panic, but it was smothered. Ivan instead smiled at him innocently. "What do you mean, Gilbert?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Gilbert said. "You used to use that smile to get what you wanted. You used to use those innocent sentences to get people to tell you their secrets. You used to use those trembling hands to hurt as you please. What has changed?"

Ivan's smile was gone and he clenched those said hands into his pockets. His voice was all serious. No sinister lint, no childish chuckle. "I don't think that's any of your business."

The different tone caught Gilbert off guard and he blinked once again. There was no way that this was the Ivan he knew. Maybe it was a twin who happened to have the same name. He sighed to himself. He wanted to know so bad, but he couldn't deny what Ivan said. No matter how much he wanted to know, it was Ivan's life, not his.
"Fine, fair enough," he said. "Let's just focus on escaping."

Ivan sighed and gave him a grateful smile before catching himself and looking forward. Gilbert bit his tongue before he could ask anymore questions. The rest of their trip was uneventful. There aren't usually many night guards, but they should still have run into some more. They never did. Not that Gilbert was complaining. They made it outside and to the wall they needed without any troubles. They stood at a safe distance, waiting for the opportune moment.

Ivan had his lips pressed together. "I don't like this."

"Like what?" Gilbert asked, panic spiking. Had Ivan finally changed his mind about helping Gilbert?

"It was too easy," Ivan said, not looking at Gilbert but back at the building. "There should have been more challenges. I actually didn't think we'd make it."

Gilbert huffed, pretending to be offended. "So you were completely fine doing this knowing that we were probably going to get captured and I would be tortured?"

"Oh hush, I would've been too," Ivan said dismissively . "Now pay attention. The blind spot is coming soon."

Gilbert obediently watched the wall, but his mind was on something else. He's been debating with himself for a while now, having first had the thought shortly after Ivan had not killed the man. He glanced at Ivan now as the round faced man gazed at his hands, a habit Gilbert was starting to notice. He still couldn't believe he was even considering this, after all they had done to each other. After everything they had forced each other through. And yet, he felt he had to suggest it. He couldn't let the opportunity pass without at least trying.

"Ivan," he said, gaining the man's attention, "do you want to come with me?"

Ivan blinked, then his violet eyes went wide when he registered what Gilbert was suggesting. "What? You mean, out there? Escape with you?"

Gilbert just nodded, not believing it himself.

Ivan stared at him for a second in complete in shock. That was the last thing he expected to come out if the albino's mouth. He had never really considered it himself. Still, he already knew the answer.

He shook his head. "I can't. I have reasons for being here."

Gilbert nodded, accepting that, but he couldn't push the curiosity away. "Reasons?"

Ivan gazed at him for a moment, deciding something there and then. "Let's just say I've learned the evil of my ways." He closed his eyes and his head fell forward into his hands for just a moment. "I was a monster." He was up again the next second. "I have something I need to do."

Gilbert was about to say something, but Ivan interrupted and stopped whatever it may have been.

"And besides, someone needs to look out for Ludwig." He gave Gilbert a small, kind, understanding smile. The truest smile Gilbert had ever seen on that face.

So Gilbert accepted that. He smiled in return and nodded. He turned back to the wall and realized that the blind spot was almost there. He jumped up from the leaning position he was in.

"It's almost time," he told Ivan.

Ivan looked too and saw the same, so he joined Gilbert in his jog up to the wall. They pressed themselves to it, watching as the towers turned. Three . . . two . . . one . . . Now. Ivan linked his hands together and crouched down for Gilbert.

"Good luck," he said, looking up at Gilbert.

Gilbert grinned at him with his usual self-confidence. "Since when do I need luck?"

Ivan just smiled lightly and shook his head. He set himself firmly and got ready for the weight. Gilbert stepped into his hands, but Ivan felt a hand on his shoulder before his felt the pushing motion. He looked up into Gilbert's closer face, which now was smiling more honestly.

"Thank you," was all he said, but Ivan sensed all that he was thanking for.
Ivan nodded then hoisted Gilbert up. "Up you go."

Gilbert caught the edge of the wall and hoisted himself up. With Ivan having to give surprisingly little of his strength, Gilbert was over the wall and on the other side.

Flying to freedom.

sein kleiner Bruder - "his little brother" in German

Yay! Stuff happened! Now, I would like to apologize for a couple of things. First, sorry if all the "Ivan has changed" stuff got annoying. I know I mentioned it a lot, but I'm a big supporter of good Ivan, and I really like Prussia and Russia as friends, so... Yeah. It's also important to the story, so I'm keeping it. Sorry if it got annoying. Second, I know the escape wasn't all that exciting. I'm sorry if you were expecting explosions and gunshots like what happened before, but there's a reason why this escape is different. Sorry it was boring, but hopefully you still enjoyed this chapter. Sorry it was so late, but I don't know when the other one will be up. You'll have to be patient, sorry.

Thank you for all of the reviews, they're so awesome XD Please, keep them coming. If you want to give me suggestions or just fan girl over something I did, totally go for it. I love reading everything that you give me. Favorites and followers also make me feel epically awesome.

Thank you to all of you readers. You guys are too awesome.

Have a great day :D