WARNING: SUPER BAD CHINESE ACCENT BECAUSE I'M TERRIBLE AT ACCENTS. And there's quite a few timeskips, but I don't think them horribly bothersome.

THANK YOU FOR YOU ATTENTION.

(over).

Alfred came back to earth screaming like Lovino.

And then like a little girl because the world had utterly gone to complete shit.

First of all, hot damn his face hurt. Like, really, really bad. He was ninety percent sure Matthew had broken his nose. Blood was streaming from his nostrils.

His second realization was that he was being carried, and by a stranger. He wasn't even slung over a shoulder, which would have gave him some dignity- no, he was being carried like a baby, like a damsel in distress.

W.T.F.

Not to mention his captor didn't have a face. Nope, just a creepy white mask.

Oh, and fourthly: where the frick was everybody else?

As soon as he had come back to life, his captor's grip had stiffened- not tightened, just stiffened- in surprise. Alfred jammed his elbow into the stranger's middle and was dropped to the ground, landing hard on his arm and rolling away.

"Oh, no," the stranger clucked. Guy. Creepy guy. "How upsetting." He didn't sound that upset.

Alfred scrambled to his feet, heaving. Blood was still dripping down his nose, and must have looked like hell. He felt like hell.

His captor was short, maybe a whole head shorter than him. Obviously strong, if he managed to carry Alfred while running, but not stocky. Thin and lean. Weird-ass clothes from, like, an era before Christ. Plain white porcelain mask.

When he made no move to speak, only to stare, Mr. Mask let out an audible sigh. "Come with me."

Come with- "Uh, what?" Except it came out more of a "uh, wa?". A streak of pain went down his jaw.

Despite this, Mr. Mask appeared to understand. "You don't want to be clueless any more. You want to come with me."

He didn't say anything.

"We are Axis."

No shit, Sherlock.

"I recruit travelers like you. Who do not have need of Counter."

He wiped at his nose with his arm. "Sohp i'." Stop it.

"I tell you anything you want. No questions. No General. You and me."

And you're so trustworthy.

Axis Dude put out his hand. "Come."

He shook his head. "No."

"Come."

"No."

"Come."

"No."

"Come."

He spread out his arms. "Obwiousee Engish i' not your first lankuage." Obviously English is not your first language.

The hand never lowered.

He didn't say anything else.

The Axis Mask sighed and let his arm drop, reaching up around his neck and producing a small pouch. He held it out in his hand, and Alfred took a step back.

"We are not evil, Jones."

"You kill travelers."

The immortal shrugged. "What other option do we have?"

"Leabe eberybubby alone." Leave everybody alone.

"I will not kill you. You will be of some use."

He didn't know whether to feel complimented or offended. Some mixture.

The stranger took a step forward, the pouch still in his palm. "Take this. No harm here. Present to show no harm."

He took a hesitant step forward and, in a quick, decisive move, darted forwards and snatched it.

"What is it?" He sniffed and swiped at his nose again. It had stopped bleeding, but still ached.

"Open."

It was cold and slightly heavy. He forced his finger through the small opening and drew out a silver and black watch.

"Williams' watch."

Matthew's watch. He flipped open the cover and stared at the scratchless face. The black hands were frozen in place.

"What is this? Some kind of 'sacrifice yourself to save him' thing?" He let the pouch drop to the ground, the watch tight in his fist.

The immortal shrugged. "If was that, I would not give to you. I ask you to think about us. Powerful. Leave Counter alone. You do not have to have Counter. Let him join others. They are fine."

"Who exactly are you?"

Alfred couldn't see, but from under his mask the Red Monkey smiled. "You want name?"

"Yeah."

"I am your friend. My agents call me Red Monkey. You can call me Wang Yao."

Alfred only blinked, and the man disappeared in a swirl of smoky gold.

Alfred stood there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. He opened up his hand and stared at Matthew's watch. And stared some more.

He kind of felt like he was drowning. Like someone had just forced his head underwater, only he wasn't expecting it and all his breath was caught in his throat.

He wanted to sit down.

But he had to find the others, first. So he took shaky steps forward, hopefully in the direction Wang Yao came from.

"Guys?" he called. "Guys? Hello, anybody there?"

He couldn't be that far away, could he? He looked around. The trees all looked the same to him, especially in the orange evening light. He stopped for another few seconds in an effort to hear the highway. He wasn't able to scope out any sound.

"Guys?" he asked again, though a little smaller. He quickened his pace. "Hey!"

A lot of shit had just gone down within the last few minutes. Matthew had nearly punched his lights out, he had been carried by a stranger, given Matthew's watch and then told to think about joining the Axis.

But his throat was only tight now because he was finally alone. And he was never, ever alone.

He started running. "Hey! Hey! Immortals Intervene! Counters Come! To the Time Machine!"

"Alfred!"

There! Oh, thank God. "I'm here!" He went crashing through the trees, waving his arms frantically above his head. "I'm here!" He caught sight of Francis's bright red pants and sighed with relief. "I thought I was going to be lost-"

Francis collided with him, and Alfred's relief was washed away when he realized the immortal was shaking.

"Alfred, mon chiot, mon chiot-" He took the traveler's face in his hands. "What happened? Oh, dear, look at your face. Mon Dieu, mon dieu, I thought they had finally gotten you. They did finally get to you, mon chiot, mon chiot…" he trailed off into French, and Alfred ceased to understand.

He awkwardly patted Francis's back. "Uh. Yeah- no, I'm okay. I mean, where Matt punched me isn't to great-"

"Where Matieu hit you…" the immortal shook his head. "We'll figure that out later. Come on, come on, we have to go."

"What else did Matthew say? What's the matter now?"

Francis shook his head again. "Antonio. We have to help Antonio."

A deep chill ran through him. "Antonio? What happened? Is he okay?"

"Fine, fine. It's the other three. Gilbert, Lovino, Arthur-"

"Francis, you gotta tell me what happened."

"How should I know? I was under clairvoyance and only just got the run down from Antoine. They're in bad shape of mind. Bad shape of mind. Mattieu, I never expected what he said to be that meaningful- the travelers. The Axis agents are travelers."

"Yeah?"

"They weren't all killed."

It took him a second before he realized what Francis might be trying to say. "You mean the Axis are your guys's travelers?"

"Not mine. Not Antonio's. But Arthur- oh, my Arthur-" He took Alfred by the arm and began to drag him back. "Can't you run any faster, mon chiot?"

The traveler stumbled along. "What about Wang Yao?"

"Wang Yao?"

"Yeah. The creepy Red Monkey dude."

Francis shook his head. "Later, later, along with your poor face. Antoine! Antoine!"

"¡Y así ayudeme Díos!" they heard in response. "¡Esto me asusta!"

What Alfred saw wasn't what he was exactly expecting. Antonio had a flailing, screaming Gilbert under one arm and a limp Lovino under the other. Arthur was on his knees, his head touching the ground. Yeah, that was unsettling.

Francis finally let go of the traveler to crash in front of his long-time companion, his words lost to Alfred as they melted again from English to French. He saw him take Arthur into his arms, force his forehead from the dirt and his arms from his hair.

It was here when Alfred looked away. Somethings he didn't want to know. He went to the hassled Antonio instead.

"Uh…you want any help with that?"

It was the first time he'd ever seen Antonio give a withering look. "Take him." He sent Gilbert spinning into him, and before Alfred would even think about avoiding collision Gilbert was off and running.

"Catch him," the Spanish immortal hissed. "There's a reason I didn't let him go."

Alfred huffed.

So he was chasing after Gilbert. Again. He was in obvious pain, but that apparently didn't matter to anybody. It felt like his brain was knocking against his skull.

"Gilbert! Jeez, man! Get back here!" He stumbled over roots and stones. "Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

He gradually got slower and slower, and the immortal got farther and farther away. Alfred sat down on his butt. If the guy didn't want to come, then he didn't want to come. He'd figure all this out later. Wang Yao, the Axis, the watch, Matthew, his face, Gilbert-

Yeah, later was good. Now was time for…

He turned on his side. He didn't think the ground had ever felt so welcoming.

…sleep.

Francis had never been more scared in his life.

He'd thought they'd lost Alfred, that the Axis had finally gotten to him and now he was gone.

Then it was Arthur. His Arthur. The rosbif was not supposed to lean into him. He was not supposed to be silent. It unnerved the other immortal to no end.

"Mierde," he heard Antonio curse. "Joder. Were we supposed to expect this to happen? ¿Oye, Lovino, qué es esto?" He set the Italian up, running a finger under his jaw. "Tú me asustas. Dime algo, no llores."

"Noi siamo tutte assolutemente idiotas," Lovino sniffed.

Antonio let out a shaky laugh. "Sí, sí. Gracias a Dios."

Hands tightened in Francis's shirt. "Where did the timey go?"

"Hmm?" Francis looked down, but Arthur refused to meet his eyes.

"Alfred. The Axis didn't get him."

"No, mon cher, no. He's gone off to find Gilbert. He's alright."

The immortal stiffened. "Is he by himself?"

Antonio let out a huff of breath. "Huh. Uh, he's after Gilbert. So basically with somebody."

"Who's running from him." Arthur shook his head. "How long has he been gone?"

The Spaniard paled a little. "No sé. Thirty? Forty-five minutes? An hour? I'm sure he's fine; Gilbert can just run."

Arthur slipped through Francis' arms. "Which direction."

Francis pulled at him. "Now, now, mon cher, take it easy."

"I learned my traveler is still alive; I didn't suffer some horrible injury. Let go of me- who knows where the Axis is right now? He can't just be left."

Antonio dragged Lovino to his feet. "I think it'd be best to leave Canada now."

"England."

They turned to Arthur. "What?"

"We're going to England next." He didn't even want to imagine what horrors were there, and so left it at that. Just thinking about them set his teeth on edge. He thought he was done with the impossible but- nope! – the universe found pleasure in toying with him.

Alfred would hate to leave his car, he knew. But there were different matters at hand. The timey would have to deal.

His whole right arm throbbed, a heavy reminder that his timepiece still had the possibility of working. The pain ran from his fingertips to up and over his shoulder. He clenched and unclenched a fist, just to feel it.

So this is what is was to be alive.

Antonio had led them maybe a kilometer and a half, all of them yelling a mixture of Alfred and Gilbert's name, before they finally heard a reply.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm back." He had dirt on his face and bleeding knees, as if he had fallen. They didn't ask him if he was okay, and in turn Gilbert completely avoided any of their eyes.

"Where's Alfred?"

Gilbert blinked. "What d'ya mean? I didn't have him."

"Mierde." Antonio rubbed his forehead. "Nosotros estamos en tan mierde profunda. Alfred! Ven!"

It was a little more calling and crashing around in different directions before Arthur finally found him, curled up in the dirt like a pillbug.

Francis exhaled. "Merci Dieu."

Arthur smiled and got down on his knees, brushing the hair from the traveler's bruised face. The pain of an alive traveler was stifled, forgotten.

"Just look at you," he clucked. "A perfect mess."

The traveler half-opened his eyes, his pupils large and dark, his expression unfocused and confused. "Wha?"

Arthur held out his hand. "It's time to get up. We have to go."

Alfred rubbed a palm against his cheek. "I'm tired."

"Yes, Love. We all are."

"Matt hit me," he sniffled. "And then the bad guy dropped me."

"It's okay. We're leaving now."

Alfred thrust out his arms. "Carry me."

"Oh, no. You're much too big."

"Sssoft," Alfred slurred.

Arthur tugged his arm. "Come now. Let's not be difficult."

"Carry me," the traveler repeated.

"I'm not carrying you. You've got to get up. I have no plans of going camping ever again."

"You promised," Francis agreed, and Alfred got, swaying, to his feet.

"¡Y así ayudeme Díos!" they heard in response. "¡Esto me asusta!"- "And so help me God!...This scares me!" (Spanish).

"Mierde," ... "Joder. Were we supposed to expect this to happen? ¿Oye, Lovino, qué es esto?" ..."Tú me asustas. Dime algo, no llores."- "Shit...f*ck...Hey, Lovino, what is this?...You scare me. Give me something, don't cry." (Spanish).

"Noi siamo tutte assolutemente idiotas."- "We are all absolutely idiots." (Italian).

"Nosotros estamos en tan mierde profunda. Alfred! Ven!"- "We're in such deep shit now. Alfred! Come!" (Spanish).

The rest is just little stuff- if you don't know, use context clues because I'm too lazy to translate 'shit' and 'my god' in Spanish and French anymore. ;)

Are we 50,000 words in? Wow!

Thanks to everybody's who's followed, favorited, or reviewed! :D Bye!

xx Sveg