Soreness and exhaustion ate at every limb of Lukas's body, yet he felt too numb to truly notice; every inch of him pounded with aches and sensitive bruises that he was sure were on his flesh with all of the torture he took, from his back when he slammed into that cellar shelf by Mathias's spell, to his neck when Mathias caught him in that moment of weakness and moved to seize the opportunity (and his tight, large grip still lingered on Lukas's throat, giving the man a shiver at what he barely managed to avoid) to his heart, ripping itself into piece after dead, empty piece so much that it was hard for Lukas to breathe.

And the watch latched around his wrist didn't help. As he ran, and his arms swung back and forth from the motion, the bulky gadget on his wrist came to view again and again, its tiny, hard-to-read green screen rendering it useless as nothing as but a reminder of what- who- he had just lost. Everything in this horrible environment was hard to see; with the tears blurring his vision, it was a wonder that Lukas didn't crash into any furnishings or appliances, or even tripped over his own feet while trying to escape the Dane. It was amazing what the body could do while on autopilot, because as he was physically running away from his greatest enemy, it felt like he was still in that cold, dusty Hell, kneeling next to his baby brother, his fingers stroking Emil's once-rosy cheeks to find the warmth already dissipating from his soft, slack face.

The watch kept coming into view and disappearing, going back and forth, the green light from it showing up in his field of vision and leaving, Emil here one moment, gone the next…

That boy should have kept the damn accessory. He was a fool to think that Lukas wouldn't be able to protect him, or that the plan to ambush the Dane wouldn't work. If they had just fucking stuck to it- if Emil hadn't tried to attack Mathias by himself- it would have worked to save them, and that bastard would be dead, Lukas would still have Emil by his side, and they could leave this horrible hellhole and come back with a mob, a mass of angry people with whom they could share this horror with to rile them, who would help them burn that degenerate's body and his new home so he wouldn't come back to do this to anyone else.

And yet, Lukas knew that he was the bigger fool for letting his brother fall like that, for taking the watch and not asking Emil about his intention behind the act, and not seeing that Emil was hotheaded enough to do something horribly risky and so damn ridiculous. How could he have called himself a protective big brother when he didn't stop Emil from acting on his wild temper? Lukas's run slowed into a jog, and then to a complete stop, his eyes gazing around the furniture and decor of the living room that he suddenly found himself in. His arms fell limply to his side, the damn watch growing heavier and weighing his hand down.

"Lukas!" He could hear the man's shout from far away, possibly from within the dining room that was built between the kitchen and den. Damn, Mathias has gotten faster over the years. "Luka-aa-as!"

Lukas then raised his arm bearing the device, risking whatever has remained of his shattered, fragile heart as he stared at it, the bubbly tone of Mathias's "I'm-going-to-get-you" sing-song call sounding like a soft echo in Lukas's mind, overpowered by the bizarre clarity breaking through the cloud of grief the longer he stared at the watch, this clarity hitting him so hard he could feel pain in his guts at how wrong his decision was.

Wasn't he making himself into a bigger fool, and an easier target, by abandoning his own plan and running away?

Although Mathias's speed did increase over the years- thanks to brilliant military training from all the past wars- it still felt like Lukas was the faster one of the two, the way he moved so swiftly that Mathias was barely able to catch up to him. Making it to the dining room, Mathias paused to crane his neck and cup his mouth. "Lukas!" he tried once more, but his calls bore no results; the only reply he seemed to get was an echo of his own voice that rang in the empty house, but Mathias wasn't going to panic over the possibility of losing his own game yet. The little robots were still swimming around in Lukas's bloodstream, and even if Lukas can remember his spells and"magically" poof himself out of the house, Mathias was sure- at least, he hoped- that he wasn't going to risk it when it meant activating the little nanites and sending his body to near-electrocution.

Still, it was better to be safe and ensure his victory than be sorry and let one careless, underestimating thought ruin his chances. Stopping in his tracks, Mathias took a moment to close his eyes and inhale deeply through his nostrils. He tried to harness as much energy within his body as possible- because as he noticed from Lukas's first few spell castings, as well as experiencing it firsthand, doing the spells was draining as hell for the new magic users- and started chanting the words he had memorized for this specific purpose, to hopefully drive the notion of magic and spell books from Lukas's mind like before.

He could feel this energy then bubble out, filling the atmosphere in the house and expanding more to find its target, a young-looking beautiful man who, although Mathias loved him so much, must not win with his cute little tricks. The magical energy, though messy and wavering with Mathias's tendencies to lose focus in his great bouts of excitement, finally reached the last contestant of this night of fun, its invisible wave washing through Lukas with a gentle wisp and taking with it the man's most recent memories of his magical abilities, including the push spell Mathias himself had used within the basement to get the little man off him. Even if the forget spell won't work well to take all of Lukas's memories of spells, he could at least count on the fact that Lukas couldn't possibly find the book he had hidden.

But suddenly, there was an odd disturbance of movement within the magic wave Mathias had spread out, of Lukas breaking through and entering the magical bubble almost willingly-

Mathias opened his eyes, and if he had done so a moment or two sooner, he would have seen the surprise before it had hit him quite literally. He would've been able to catch and stop Lukas charging at him, with his torso bent low and his fist pulled back. But no; as he busied himself with trying to be sure that Lukas didn't use one indirect tactic against him, he didn't truly catch on to- or even think about- Lukas turning right back and going for a direct attack until Lukas bounced up on the balls of his feet to gain some height and rammed his knuckles straight into Mathias's chin.

The blow's force knocked Mathias's whole body back, to the point where he reeled back into one of the dining table's chair and tumbled to the floor along with it. As he fell, the side of his head had also hit the edge of the table. The agonizing pain from both injuries caused his vision to swim, only seeing spots of light blink all over the place. His eyes didn't see Lukas shake his hand and flex his fingers to get rid of the sting made by the impact.

And god damn, did the sting feel good for Lukas, because if it was horrible for Lukas, it was three times as hellish for Mathias, who looked like his jaw was a couple of punches away from hanging off its hinges. Lukas pounced on the opportunity and the monster to complete the job, hands balled as he tried to slam them against whatever part of Mathias's face he could get to. And of course Mathias wasn't going to let him attack so easily, now; he raised one of his arms defensively as he used his other to try to return some of the punches, his body jostling underneath Lukas so he could use some of his big size to throw him off and change positions, oddly like the many times he did when they used to copulate.

Just as Mathias intended, Lukas fell off and landed beside him on the floor, but rolled away and scrambled to his feet before Mathias could climb on him, losing his balance and staggering back to the wall. In the couple of seconds it took waiting for Mathias to raise back on his feet, Lukas knew that once again he made a foolish mistake to stand here and challenge Mathias face to face. He couldn't claim that he was acting on his very brilliant previous idea, anymore, and not falling for the heat of rage that caused his younger brother's demise. And as careless as this decision was to look the beast straight in his dazed eyes and demand it to stand the fuck up and take him like a big boy, he could see why Emil had suddenly let that surge of anger overtake him.

Because shy, quiet Berwald, who couldn't use his size to hurt even an innocent fly, was dead.

Because sweet, nurturing Tino, who gave so many people the benefit of the doubt despite his fear and tortured history with them, was dead.

Because Peter, such a young child, driven to achieve his goals and love all by his childish innocence, who looked up to Mathias the most despite some of his unruly behavior towards him, was dead.

Because Emil, Lukas's sweet brother, was rotting in this trap of a mansion right now…

It was enough fuel to feed Lukas's fire, to have him lunge at Mathias the same mindless way that Emil had upon seeing the youngest of them all violated and murdered. He was so blinded by the sudden shade of red warping his sight that he didn't notice Mathias reaching back behind him, and was too late to stop the plate from smashing against his head.

As the remaining pieces of the glass fell from Mathias's hand, which now bled with cuts both shallow and deep from the plate breaking in his palm, Mathias cowered back against the table, holding onto the edge of it with his newly injured hand as he waited for the attack to take effect on Lukas. Yet all his widened eyes saw was Lukas shaking his head a bit, press his palm against the wound, and opening his mouth wide.

"Aa-aa-aghh!"

Almost comically, Mathias gulped and raised his eyebrows at the feral shout Lukas gave, jaws wide and teeth bared like a coyote unwilling to lose a fight despite its leg being caught in a trap, or in this case, its head nearly bashed in so badly that a couple lines of blood was slowly streaming along his jawline and down his face. Damn, he knew better than to actually underestimate Lukas and his tolerance for pain, but Lukas was definitely not going to make the victory easy, wasn't he? A fact which- despite knowing that if he didn't win tonight, his goal was going to fall through and he'd have gone through all of this trouble of buying a house, running around to chase these fools, and getting the shit beaten out of him for nothing- made a grazing, excited grin on his face.

He loved it when Lukas didn't make it easy for him, the little icy fucker.

Now it was time to use that anger inflamed in Lukas and change the game up a bit. With a quick gesture of his head towards the door, Mathias bolted right out the dining room, with Lukas momentarily losing his sense of fury to confusion, staring at the man's back as he retreated. Did Mathias seriously just-?

"Come back here, you fucking-!" Lukas's hoarse voice was cut off by the dining room's door swinging close, as well as the distance Mathias was building between them two, but it didn't take long for Mathias to hear him barge through the door seconds later, Lukas's pounding footsteps rushing after him. Good, he could take this fight to somewhere else, someplace with enough room for them to have a proper rustle and tussle like they used to back in the good old days. It would be nice to show Lukas the skills he's developed over the years, too, before everything finally fell into place and he would have to end him.

Back up the stairs Mathias went, looking over his shoulder to make sure that Lukas was following after him. Once he spotted the pair of unusually-ignited blue eyes honed in on him, Mathias let out a childish snicker and cut around a corner. This is actually kinda fun! He thought giddily as he found his spine shiver with the thrill of being chased, with his mind somehow completely leaving out the part of possibly being mauled by his boyfriend if he doesn't find that special room to fight him in.

As he raced down the hall, Mathias ran into one of the doors along a wall and left it open, hitting a light switch by the threshold to light Lukas's way. And Lukas, despite all of his irrational fury, knew that the light spilling across the floor just down the hall was another one of Mathias's traps; he couldn't remember which room was the one that the monster ran into, with all the doors looking the same from the outside, but there were weapons in there, possibly in hidden compartments, or maybe he had rigged up some sort of electrical field in there to activate the nanites in Lukas's body and paralyze him without him having to go outside. That would definitely make it easier for Mathias to take his body without so much as a fight, wouldn't it?

Yet, that one moment of clearheaded thinking was not enough to get him to stop running towards that trap. He continued to go after Mathias and barged into the room, his eyes squinting into narrow slits as he blocked them with his arm. His eyes took some time to get used to the sudden change of lighting- especially with harsh, bright lighting that contrasted painfully to the darkness creeping into the rest of the house during the nightfall- but as it stopped being so bleary, Lukas lowered his arm to find Mathias standing proudly on a thick, elaborately-patterned rug, his arms crossed over his chest that was puffing out in pride. Wait, wasn't this place…?

Lukas lowered his arm some more, gazing around the room from the back binding of old, thick books aligned on high bookshelves, to the various office décor adorning the corners and ceiling, to the simple computer sitting atop a massive wooden desk that stood behind Mathias. Pursing his lips at finding nothing he could use for a killing weapon, Lukas finally met Mathias's gleeful, expectant stare and took a step closer. "...Why are we in your study, Dane?"

Mathias sniffed nonchalantly at Lukas's venomous tone and uncrossed his arms, only to stick his hands in his pajama pockets and rock on his heels and the balls of his feet. Slowly rolling his neck, he replied, "We-ee-ell, my study's the only room big enough for us to fight in besides the training room- and c'mon, like I was going to fight you in there with all those equipment just waiting to make the fight unfair for either of us- and in here, we don't have to worry about tripping over any bodies while we brawl! Just like old times!"

Mathias ended his explanation by raising an excited fist in the air, and just like in the basement, Mathias's bubbly nature and his determined grin brought a twisting, sickening twinge in Lukas's chest that made it so hard to breathe without sobbing. Even as the other man basically hinted at having a fight to the death between them, the same man who, not even ten minutes ago, snapped Emil's neck like a butcher killing a chicken, there was still that aching urge to find some part of the old Mathias, the real one who couldn't dream of hurting the ones close to him, and bring him back. Or, if some gods willed it, let this at least be a long, vivid nightmare that he could wake up from in the real Mathias's protective, loving arms.

But this was real. Feeling the weight of the heavy watch on his wrist as his arm dangled at his side, as well as coming back to the present by the thuds and screech of the desk against the hardwood floor as Mathias pushed backwards against it to make more room for their fight, had reaffirmed the fact that this wasn't a dream. The realization that Mathias truly saw toying with their lives like it was a game struck hard like a hot blade slashing across his face, adding to the heartbreak Lukas had already felt twice. The fury was like waking a hungry, hostile tiger ready to take down anything alive, the way Lukas's rage flared back to life and pushed him to charge right at Mathias again, who was so busy with trying to set up their fighting area, he almost missed the fist coming for his head again.

Almost. After finally moving the desk back enough, he luckily glanced up from the floor and flinched back, his smirk growing as well as his eyes as he caught Lukas's swing by his wrist and quickly stepped out of the way, taking a hand full of Lukas's hair behind his head and slamming his face against the desk's top. Warm blood ran down Lukas's nostrils and smeared against the legal pad that held months of the Dane's notes and years of culminated plans, his vision taking on this dizzying blur as Mathias turned his head slightly to look at his face. It was possibly the pounding against his forehead that made him sick, but Lukas's stomach lurched upon finding that familiar leering as Mathias's shadowed face watched him from above, those blue eyes half-lidded as Mathias bent Lukas's arm higher behind his back, slowly but firmly, drawing out the pain from the angle the limb was in.

Licking his lips, Mathias squeezed Lukas's wrist tighter and widened his stance behind Lukas's bent body. "Ha ha ha, this brings back old times, doesn't it?"

Lukas tried to keep calm, tried to not show how much having his arm pulled up like that was killing him, but he failed to keep his breath from coming out in a heavy, shaky huff that sounded close to a sob. He closed his eyes and started pushing back against his attacker, wriggling his body despite how it made the pain in his arm worse, and kicking Mathias's leg only to have his foot brush feebly against it. The fight Lukas was putting up would have made Mathias howl in laughter, but he can't break his concentration when he has the last contestant right under him.

Still, what was the harm in entertaining himself just a little, especially since his source of amusement was so beautiful, so perfect and weak against Mathias's hold? Enchanted by the way he had his lover in his mercy, Mathias pressed himself onto Lukas, letting out a soft, chuckling breath as he gently rubbed his groin against Lukas's bottom. The raw, animal instinct to fuck Lukas grew in the back of Mathias's mind, the hunger for Lukas's body that Mathias had to stave off for the past few days reaching its peak now that he can finally use it all to claim his final target.

And just like any prey finding themselves in a terrifying trap, everything in Lukas froze, from his breath that he tried to keep under control, to his heart when the horror of what was happening dawn on him. A moment later, when his dazed mind was sure that Mathias was rocking against him, and sensing that he wasn't doing so jokingly, Lukas let out a wailing scream and jerked against him faster."Get off me!"

He pushed against Mathias's grip and tried once more to kick Mathias anywhere that his legs can reach from behind. The wild thrashing that made it hard to keep a good hold, and the horrified cries that seemed to bounce off the walls and shake the windows, broke the lustful mood Mathias was in instead of fueling it like it should. In fact, it enraged him how badly Lukas was reacting to the fun (or maybe Mathias was angered by having his concentration on fucking Lukas broken by the screaming) that he gritted his teeth.

"Ugh, shut the fuck up!" He wrung Lukas's wrist with one quick twist, and once again Lukas froze, gasping as they both heard a tiny crack.

In gradual levels, the pain of his injured wrist, that had settled into a mere dull ache in passed time, built back up to the same burning fire that ate at his flesh and broken bone. Initial shock at the renewed pain created a block in Lukas's throat, until his voice started to form again. It was a strained, breathless noise at first, his volume barely above a whisper, but then-

"Aa-aa-aa-aagh!" More of his tears trickled in the corners of his bulging violet eyes. Like the prey that he is, Lukas bucked and thrashed more harshly, trying in vain to break his arm free from Mathias's merciless hand. Desperate to get away from being trapped, Lukas raised his foot and stomped hard. There was no telling how effective that one mindless move- among dozens of other mindless moves he had tried thus far- would be, considering that with no shoes on, he couldn't possibly break any of Mathias's toes or hurt his foot as badly as he had shattered Lukas's wrist, but it did well to at least scare the man. Mathias yelped and started jumping back before realizing what he was doing. Lukas took advantage of Mathias's withdrawal quickly and jumped up to butt his head against Mathias's chin. The blow made the man fall back onto the rug.

Mathias reached back to break his fall and landed roughly on the floor, but clambered out of the way just as Lukas was about to jump on top of him. Lukas did the same with his hands to break his fall, but doing so made him let out another cry of pain when the impact completely worsened his abused limb. He squeezed his eyes closed and took a deep breath, his wail turning into a low hiss in between his teeth.

Ignore the pain… ignore the pain…

He tried to get himself up from the floor by pushing up from his working hand and the opposite forearm, when Mathias went for Lukas's current vulnerability and tried to grapple him on the ground. Lukas jabbed his elbow into Mathias's face from behind and lost his balance doing so. When Mathias tried to roll on top of him and get some of that previous power back, Lukas swiftly rolled them over and squirmed to right himself on Mathias's body. Now lying face to face with the monster, Lukas pressed his impaired forearm against Mathias's throat and raised his other hand high, using the force of gravity to make it hurt as much as possible as he drove his knuckles right into Mathias's mouth.

Mathias's bottom lip had a split that bled horribly, and Lukas was sure that he saw a tooth fly out of the bloodied orifice. But it wasn't enough; he continued to dish out one punch after another, trying to knock the damned bastard out like a light, but he knew that those punches wouldn't be effective enough to knock out a nation who survived actual beheading more than once in his terrible existence, and he was right.

In the sixth blow, Mathias knocked Lukas's fist out of his way and bumped his head against Lukas's bleeding nose. He brought his leg up to kick Lukas off of him, who tumbled backwards and tripped on his own feet, causing him to splay out on his back and knock his own head onto the hard floor. Above him, the light fixtures swam in steady yet nauseating circles, and right under his feet, he could hear clothing and carpet shuffle as Mathias sat up. Little drops of red were everywhere, coming from Lukas's nose as it streamed down the side of his cheek, and from Mathias's mouth as he spat out a thick spurt of it along with some saliva next to him.

Mathias groaned as he moved onto his knees and paused to hang his head, blinking slowly until the flashing stars would stop blinding him. He breathed slowly to ease the spinning in his head; his eyes wandered to the two teeth that flew out of his mouth and landed off to the side. With a slow shake of his head, and an odd, silent hope that the teeth will grow back after all of this, Mathias crawled to his target and curled his fingers into the front of Lukas's shirt. As Mathias rose to his feet, he heaved Lukas up, the motion gently shaking Lukas awake and preventing a black out. Lukas grunted as he kicked his dangling leg into Mathias's groin.

"Fuck!" Mathias accidentally released Lukas's shirt and started to double over. He then felt Lukas's hand grab his hair to hold his head still as Lukas kneed him in his face. The first attack had hit Mathias's jaw and broke another tooth free, but on Lukas's second attempt, Mathias wrapped his arm around Lukas's leg and held it close. Lukas struggled to get his leg free and ended up almost falling over. Yet, instead of letting him land on the floor, Mathias moved to grapple Lukas by his waist and lifted him, slamming him on the desk once more. The force made the supplies bounce and roll off the table to the ground, the flat desktop monitor making a loud, resounding crack as it clattered to the floor.

Lukas reached up and took the keyboard before that fell along with the other office supplies. He slapped it across Mathias's head with so much momentum that it, too, cracked, with the black keys flying about. With one half of the keyboard falling to the floor, Lukas straightened up and held onto the other half in his tight yet shaky grip. He watched Mathias stumble back with a hand over his temple. He moved his hand and briefly looked into his palm, where if it weren't for the long, thin lines of blood oozing from the busted bruise on the side of Mathias's head, Lukas would only be able to tell how bad the damage was by the drops through Mathias's fingers, or the way Mathias was having a hard time standing still and not sway.

Mathias's eyes snapped up to his target, his trembling, red-smeared hand clenching as he let out an irritated, exhausted groan. "Why the fuck won't you give up?!" Because fuck the earlier glee he had of Lukas making this last round more challenging and fun, he needed to win! Woozy or not, he suddenly charged, which took Lukas by surprise. Lukas tried to counter any attacks Mathias may have with what was left of the keyboard, but as Mathias ducked low to avoid being hit again, he took Lukas by the hips and lifted him up. The energy it took was too much for Mathias though, as both he and Lukas dropped onto the rug. Mathias made sure to land on top in the collapse, and as he moved to hold Lukas down, he pressed down hard on Lukas's head.

Lukas struggled under Mathias's weight; he thrashed as much as his tired, sore body would allow, and turned his head so his face wouldn't suffocate in Mathias's palm that was sticky with drawn, drying blood. The rug underneath him wasn't much better; right next to his face, Lukas could make out a dry, caked pink spot just inches from the tip of his nose. It had so many familiar, pungent odors coming from it too, from the rusty copper of blood to the strong, almost chlorine-like stench of semen, with a subtle, yet still stomach-turning, fecal scent. In spite of the dire situation he was in, Lukas suddenly found himself fighting to get away from the gross bio hazard making him gag.

But of course Mathias must have his fun; once he spotted the mess, too- thanks to Lukas's bizarre, unfitting reaction- the teeth-bearing grimace turned into a smug smirk as he pressed down harder and made Lukas lie so close to the dried puddle.

"C'mon, Nor, taste the fucking shit!" He lifted Lukas's face only to slam it back to the ground, this time moving the Norwegian a bit closer to the puddle. The panicked grunting and choking he emitted from his lover made Mathias snicker in that odd, soft chuckle that was more akin to a child pushing his friend's face in the sand, instead of the berserk rapist who was trying to shove his newest victim's face into a pile of body fluids.

It was too innocent, too cheery for this type of violence.

Too much like the Mathias Lukas loves.

And goddammit, did it hurt to hear it. Godammit, did Lukas wish that his heart wasn't so easily affected by the old love and memories that the slight chuckle elicited, or the fact that being under Mathias like this for the pure torture, and coming close to being raped and killed by him, was the only thing making Mathias… happy? Is this true joy for the Dane? Besides having his face (and, now he realized, his neck) crushed under Mathias's large hands, the question made Lukas's chest squeeze, making it so hard for him to breathe once more.

With his injured hand clenching the one Mathias had on his face, Lukas lightened Mathias's hold just enough to be able to turn his gaze up at him, ignoring the pain from his sprained, now probably broken, wrist, hating the solitary tear that pooled at the corner of his eye and ran down his temple. He lifted his healthy hand to Mathias's face, nearly all malice for this predator gone as, instead of striking Mathias to get out of there, he weakly cupped it on Mathias's smooth, strong jaw. Mathias didn't even blink from the touch; the caress wasn't enough to pull him away his current inhumane killing fit, but for Lukas, it drew more of those sweet memories he truly wished hadn't come to him at the worst time, of those early mornings they woke up together, or those sweet, tender kisses they shared each and every day, of when they held each other when they were sleeping or watching movies-

11:55 PM

He gasped inaudibly, blinking his eyes to be sure they were clear enough to see what he was actually seeing. Although his vision was blurry from the tears he started to shed again, as well as the lack of oxygen making it hard to even stay awake, after staring at the device's screen, Lukas could almost hear Emil's voice- soft, ghost-like, only for him- breaking through the flood of memories overtaking Lukas's mind. He didn't even care that it may be a figment of his sadden imagination, concocted to fill the need to have Emil back- along with the rest of his family- and have this be a fake nightmare, if it weren't for the fear that it would give Mathias a hint at the idea, Lukas would've chuckled with relief.

But he couldn't have that relief, not until he could get the hell out of there.

So, moving his uninjured hand from Mathias's jaw to press lightly on his chest, Lukas swallowed the love that still stung him and bore his eyes straight into Mathias's wide, focused ones. Let Mathias be the Disney villain. It has to work; Mathias would love something like this-

"M-Mathias," he paused to feign a pitiful, anguished sob. "Why?"

As Mathias continued to stare down at his victim, he blinked, Lukas himself inhaling in anticipation as the wild, excited light in Mathias's eyes dulled, genuine confusion taking over as he tilted his head. "Why?"

"Yes! Why?!" Lukas couldn't be sure if he was faking curiosity anymore; despite trying to keep a sad, defeated air about him to keep the monster clueless about his new distraction plan, the fury flared up all over again, though not as intensely as before; Lukas wasn't planning on dying, but fuck if he was going to get killed without knowing what the hell made Mathias into this mindless killing beast-

"To, ah..." The grip Mathias had on Lukas's throat and face softened. "To take care of you guys."

A silent pause filled the room, with Lukas opening his mouth in the most aghast expression.

Lukas started to rise, his fingernails digging into Mathias's skin through his shirt. "To what-!" Mathias cut him off by pushing down on his throat again, but Lukas wrenched his throat free. So Mathias had to hold him down by the shoulder, which still didn't stop Lukas from yelling, "What the fuck do you mean 'take care of us'?!"

Mathias's unruly eyebrows rose. "You know, like in the old days, when we lived together under my supervision and..." He paused again, his eyes going around the room as if he could find the right words to explain himself from the neatly organized books. He found no words to clarify his simple goal to his boyfriend, so pressing his hand on Lukas's chest to keep him down, Mathias straightened and dug in his pajama pocket to pull out his cell phone. He fiddled with the black adapter piece atop the phone, not noticing the way Lukas's eyes kept flickering desperately to Emil's watch, until he got the connection to work properly again. He brought the phone's screen to Lukas's face after scrolling through whatever he needed to.

Just like Lukas had thought yesterday, Mathias did have a website up on his phone, an article of current Danish government affairs. But the only paragraph Lukas was able to read was:

"In a surprising new phenomena, many Norwegians have

joined in the immigration trend as they flock to Denmark to take advantage

of the growth of the economy. With Norway's and Denmark's

trade systems and job markets merging, along with some laws,

Norwegians, along with Swedes,

Icelanders, and Finns, have found a new, embracing appreciation for

the Danish culture.

Lukas froze once more, his breath caught in his sore throat as the words of the article, that one little paragraph, hit him harshly. He shook his head slowly. "Wh...what..."

"Ugh! How is that not easy to comprehend?" Mathias shoved the phone back into his pocket with a roll of his eyes. Looking around on the floor, Mathias searched the area until he found his remote control. He made sure that he had a tight clutch on Lukas's shirt as he moved over to reach the electronic. He pressed a few buttons as Lukas watched him blankly. Lukas didn't notice the whirring of one of the shelves along the wall moving apart to reveal a flat screen system embedded into the wall behind it, or the television set itself activating. Only when Mathias took him by the chin and turned his face to the wall did he noticed what was on the screen.

Mathias pressed play.

"- And in other news," some old newscaster said in Norwegian, obviously transitioning between stories, "The Prime Minister of Denmark and their ambassador have made recent trips to Norway to discuss and officially sign us into the new Unity in One bill. Some call this an insurance of stability, a guarantee that Denmark will help keep the nation afloat during the most troubling times, and the bill honestly couldn't come sooner, what with the sudden influx of unemployment and trades going awry."

There were a couple camera shots of the Prime Ministers shaking hands amicably, standing behind the table and taking pens to write on the mentioned bill, but Lukas registered none of that as he continued to listen to his home's newscaster.

"This would make Norway the fifth nation to become united- in a way- to Denmark under this bill, following Finland, Sweden, Iceland, and even some far-off fort called Sealand! Isn't that bizarre how Denmark's Parliament allowed even a fort-?"

And with that, Mathias paused the recording and looked down at his lover, his new charge, from the corner of his eye with a terribly sincere look of fondness on his face as Lukas's enlarged eyes moved from the flat screen to Mathias's face, finally stopping at a point just up above Mathias's head to stare absentmindedly at the ceiling.

Mathias had let out another chuckle. "Ya hear that, Nor? Even Sealand's prince got in on the deal." He placed a hand on his hip and grinned with pride. "Sealand's gonna get into the EU because of me! Isn't that exciting? Yanno, now that I did him that favor, I think he should be my son-"

Still staring blankly at the ceiling, Lukas pursed his lips, the revelation of Mathias's goals stunning him past any sense of nausea or rage or even the heartbreak he felt so many times already. The only thing that he could name was pure, unadulterated fear as he shook his head once more. "No… Mathias no..."

Mathias tossed the remote away and was already eagerly loosening the drawstrings in his pants. "Okay, Nor, since I'm nice, I'll let you choose the position tonight-"

"No!" Lukas swung his fist and started kicking, going straight back to aimlessly beat his hands and feet to wherever he could hit Mathias, even scratching some skin off in his erratic swinging. "No! Stop!"

Mathias had to lean back in order to prevent his face from getting hurt again- because there was no way in hell he was going to let his good looks get more ruined than they already are now- and managed to subdue one of Lukas's arms. But before he could hold down the other, Lukas shoved the watch into Mathias's face more roughly than Mathias had done with his phone.

"I won!"

The instant that those words, heavy with victory and relief, left Lukas's mouth, Mathias stopped, his eyes staring into the watch's little green screen. "You… you what?"

Lukas used Mathias's paralyzed shock to shove him off, holding the watch up as he scooted away. "I won. I won, Mathias." And the victory was so sweet, but it was not enough to keep the tremors from taking over Lukas's body, or to keep his voice strong in his proud proclamation. Instead, it went softer, his throat dammed with leftover tears he has yet to shed for his brothers and nephew. He shook his head slowly. "The game is over, Mathias. You can't… you can't rape me."

"What the fuck?!" Mathias lunged at Lukas, pinning him down once more as he picked up the arm that bore the watch.

With a grunt, Lukas felt his head hit the hardwood floor again. He pushed against Mathias with his free hand. "Get the fuck off me, you pervert, wild jackass-!"

"Hold on, goddammit, I'm trying to check!" Mathias jerked Lukas's arm to see the watch for himself, his eyes narrowing as he went over every little detail the watch had to offer. Lukas tried to yank his arm free, with some part of his mind wondering what the exact hell could Mathias be checking for. It was a simple watch-

A snort and a blood chilling low chuckle later, Lukas froze under Mathias's condescending eyes as he shook his head, his eyes growing big once more as he watched Mathias rear his head back to let out one derisive round of laughter.

Lukas gulped and let out a slow breath. "What?"

Mathias carelessly twisted Lukas's arm to show him the watch. "Lukas, this is Emil's, isn't it?"

Lukas narrowed his own eyes, too. "What the hell does that matter-" he hissed, but he stopped when Mathias started to mess with the watch's buttons, digging his own phone out again to check his screen as he muttered something along the lines of, "This is why Emil is always so damn late… Never shows up at my meetings on time... the little fucking asswipe getting my time wrong…"

When he was finished, Mathias carelessly twisted Lukas's arm. Lukas was prepared to curse and wrench his arm away, but what he noticed next stilled him.

11:02 PM

Lukas's increasingly growing eyes stared at the watch's face, his closed jaw going tense as he watched the time flash on and off. Mathias, on the other hand, grinned triumphantly after fixing Emil's mistake. He let go of Lukas's arm and pushed him on his back. "Welp, looks like the little guy gave us an hour of playtime, right?"

Lukas shook his head wildy."No..."

Mathias then gripped Lukas's shoulder and flipped him onto his stomach, muffling the hoarse screams and blocking Lukas's source of oxygen as he shoved Lukas's face in the dried blood and semen. Mathias started pulling Lukas's pants and underwear to his thighs, as well as pulling down his own waistband to release his steadily hardening cock, which proved to be difficult when he has a violently squirming man trying to break free from his capture.

With the worse shit-eating grin ever, Mathias held his tip just near Lukas's anus. "Bite the carpet, babe, I'm going in dry!"

And even with the warning, Lukas let out a smothered, horrified scream as Mathias completed that last step to solidify their countries' union, the pain of Mathias forcing himself in Lukas's body being the last thing Lukas felt before his body couldn't take anymore of the suffocation and shut down completely.