Dro: I know you guys have just been itching to see the end of this fiasco. Well, here it is! So enjoy, and do review! I have a feeling you'll want to once you get to the end. -wink-

Chapter Summary: Matthew finds himself in over his head, and Arthur finds himself feeling alone all over again.

Warnings: None?

Disclaimer: As always (and sadly, forever), Dro does not own APH.


The world seemed to be encompassed by an unearthly silence. Siphone was frozen to the spot, wide eyes stuck gazing at her boss. Lucaster's eyes were equally wide, but he was still staring down at Alfred, still terrified. Alfred's pulsating purple irises shifted to England, whose greens narrowed in response. Gilbert, Antonio, Romano, and Ivan didn't seem to know what to do. They were motionless and thoughtless at the sight of their long time friend reigning above this disaster. Feliciano felt a dull anger pulsing through him. This was all England's fault. All of this. How dare he act so indifferent about what he'd done?

"Alfred." England murmured. And then he was there, standing to next Alfred, hand on Alfred's arm. "It's time to let him go. You've made your point." Those damned green eyes glanced down at the bleeding Matthew. "I'll heal your brother."

The purple began to recede from Alfred's irises. He dropped Lucaster, the traumatized man tumbling to the ground with a dull thump. England, good on his word, knelt down next to the agonized Matthew, who was shaking in pain, removed his glove, and pressed it to Matthew's back. The boy gasped as the magic surged through him, and Feliciano's eyes widened as he watched the torn skin on Matthew's back knead itself back together. Lovino had told him England had healed him like this, but actually seeing it…what kind of magic did it take to have that skill?

As soon as he was done, he stood, and Alfred let out a haggard sigh, the last of the violet disappearing from his eyes. He collapsed just as England turned to face him again, and the man caught him, holding his limp form tightly. Alfred had used all his energy to threaten Lucaster. Feliciano desperately wanted to teleport down there and grab Alfred, but he knew that wasn't a viable option. England would destroy him before he had the chance to make a move. The man was too powerful. There wouldn't be enough of him left to even be recognizable if he dared to take on that much power. So he stood by and watched, devastated, as England hoisted Alfred into his arms, cradling him gently, ready to once again take him away from Feliciano.

Matthew, stunned but now healed, pushed him into a sitting position. His light violet eyes widened at the sight of his former guardian towering over him. Covered in blood and shocked by pain, he struggled to speak. "A…Arthur…?"

England cocked his head to the side, thoughtful, considering. "It seems your presence will be a problem for me." His whistled, and Siphone perked up. She appeared behind Matthew and hoisted him up, pinning his arms to his side so he couldn't escape.

"Matvey!" Ivan yelled across the parking lot, eyes narrow and dangerous. England blinked at him, a hint of annoyance in his eyes. Before anyone could react, Ivan was flung against the wall, the cement cracking at the impact. He gasped in pain and tumbled to the ground, unable to get up. Matthew screamed in terror.

England sighed, irritated. "Let's get out of here." He glanced at the downed Lucaster. "That includes you, you imbecile." Lucaster, obviously in pain, managed to get himself to his feet.

Gasping for air, he nodded at his boss. England, apparently satisfied, nodded his head. Feliciano let out a loud cry as he felt the magic pulse around the group of them, but he moved too late to do anything. By the time he was on the ground, they were already gone.

Feliciano dropped to his knees, not caring as they scraped against the concrete. Lovino rushed over to him, teleporting, and dropping to his knees next to his brother. "Fratello! Are you okay?" Lovino grabbed his shoulders, shaking him gently.

Slowly, Feliciano met his brother's eyes. He couldn't talk properly with his jaw like it was, so he nodded instead. Lovino seemed unconvinced. "We need to get you medical attention. Come one. Everyone's fleeing the base. We need to catch up." He pulled one of Feliciano's arms over his shoulders and hauled him up, wrapping his arm around Feliciano's waist. Numbly, Feliciano let his brother lead him on, his head an incoherent mush of thoughts.

When they passed through the open doorway, he caught a glimpse of Gilbert and Antonio helping up the fallen Ivan, who stared, devastated, at the place where Matthew had disappeared. Another loss. Just another loss in a long, long line. By the time they reached the pre-planned evacuation area, there were only a few vehicles left. Armed guards were waiting for them. They ushered the remaining nations into the cars, a couple of medical staff along with them, and they took off, leaving the base behind. As the two doctors inspected his face, he half-listened to the soldiers at the wheel. They were going to a backup location. As many of their belongings as possible had been grabbed. They would arrive in about six hours. And on and on and on. Feliciano only processed about half of it.

Alfred.

That bastard England had done something to Alfred. This wasn't the Alfred he knew. That feral way he'd glared at Lucaster. The anger, the rage, the threats…those weren't Alfred. The magic had taken him over for that brief moment. England's magic. England had infected him with that magic, Feliciano knew now. That fucker was going to use it as a way to get inside Alfred's head, to manipulate him into really joining their side. He had to stop this, somehow, someway…but how? How could he possibly get to Alfred in time? He'd only been gone for a few days, and England had already done this much.

He wanted to cry. He'd let Alfred do this. He should've stopped him. He should've talked his lover out of this. But he hadn't. And now he was paying the price. Now Alfred was paying the price. What if England did something irreversible to him? What if he messed with Alfred's mind in way that it could never be fixed? What if he'd truly lost Alfred already?

"Feliciano…" Lovino tried his hardest to snap his brother out of his daze, but nothing seemed to work. Even after the doctors had proclaimed Feliciano needed surgery to fix his jaw and left him alone, even as the sun sank low in the sky, Feliciano continued to stare off at nothing, lost inside his own head, tortured by his own thoughts. Eventually, Lovino gave up, and he weaved his fingers in between his brothers', praying to God that they would all somehow get through this in one piece.


Alfred came to with a nervous Arthur staring down at him. His head felt fuzzy, his thoughts jumbled, and he had a killer migraine. He groaned at the intensity of it. The light in the room burned his eyes, and he snapped his lids closed again. He heard Arthur moved on the bed and grabbed what rattled like a bottle of pills. The cap popped off loudly. The sound hurt his ears, and he cringed.

"Here, Alfred." Arthur whispered softly. "Take these." He pressed three pills into Alfred's open palm. Alfred popped them in without a second though and took the glass of water that Arthur offered, gulping it down. Then he laid back, trying to ignore the too intense sensations around him.

"Is it that bad?"

"Yes…" He groaned.

"That's what happens when you go over your limits with magic. It takes a toll on your body."

"Over my limits?" Alfred honestly had no clue what he was talking about. "What did I do?"

Arthur said nothing for several seconds, and Alfred almost dared to crack an eye open to see what was wrong. Then Arthur asked, "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

Arthur sighed, shaky and sad. "I see." His hand brushed against Alfred's forehand, pushing stray hairs out of his eyes. "You agreed to raid the base."

The base? Oh, the nations' base. The memory languidly began to piece itself back together. "Oh…right…I remember…" He had attacked them. He'd fought against Lovino first, and he'd doe his best not to really hurt the guy, but he'd had an incredibly hard time keeping his strength to a minimum. Then Feli…oh, God, he'd fought with Feli. It had been such a terrible battle. Every punch, every kick, every blip of magic had rebounded back to his soul, cracking his heart piece by piece. He hated fighting Feli. It was the worst experience of his life. And then…what had happened after that? It was blurry…

"I don't remember all of it…"

Arthur sighed again. "He said you probably wouldn't. You let your magic get the best of you. You let it overtake you and you almost killed Lucaster."

"I did?" He couldn't focus on that memory at all. "But, I was so in control of it. What happened?"

"I don't know. That was all he told me. I'm pretty sure he's hiding something, but I'm not sure what it is. I'll try to get to the bottom of this though, so you just rest up, alright?" He heard Arthur moved to stand, and his hand shot out and grabbed Arthur's arm. Arthur froze. "Alfred? Are you okay?"

"Stay. Stay with me." His voice shook. "Please."

Arthur, shocked at the fear in Alfred's voice, laid down, positioning himself next to Alfred. "Alright." He draped his arm around Alfred's torso, pressing himself against his old lover. Alfred said nothing more after that.

Hours later, when Arthur was thoroughly convinced Alfred had fallen back to sleep, he removed himself from the pained blond man and tucked him back in. He closed the door gently behind him, letting out a deep breath and pressing his head against it. This was all becoming so complicated. When he'd first heard that Alfred had actually agreed to the raid the base, he'd been skeptical. He was sure the other him had compelled Alfred. But as time had worn on, he'd been less and less sure. Alfred wasn't acting like he'd been compelled. His double had sworn that he had not and would not compel Alfred. So why had Alfred done it? There was no way Alfred was foolish enough to think that keeping up this ruse to their comrades would have any sort of gain, so what was going on?

And on top of that mystery, his double was hiding something. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he wasn't wrong. The man had evaded the crucial question of why had Alfred had lost control. Alfred had had plenty of control in training, so it wasn't like he was bad at it to begin with. Something had to have happened to trigger a loss of control. And that something was what his double was hiding from him. He'd have to investigate this, he knew.

He looked longingly down the empty hallway.

All alone.

Even with Alfred here, he was still all alone.


Matthew came to feeling cold. He was shirtless, a thin blanket strewn carelessly over him. He sat up, grimacing at the tightness in his back. Spots swam around in his vision. What had happened to him again? The memories rushed back to him. He gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth. Alfred. Alfred had…betrayed them? It wasn't really possible, right? But his memories didn't lie. Alfred had attacked them. He'd been destroying their base. He was working with the enemy. He was…his brother was a traitor.

Pain entered his memory, and he grabbed at his back. He'd been mortally wounded by Lucaster. He knew it, so where had the wound gone? His back was completely smooth. Something else had happened. What was he forgetting?

"You're a wrench in my plans, you know?"

He froze.

Slowly, he shifted his gaze to the large window to his left, where Arthur was sitting in a lone chair. "I was quite irritated to find that your pain set Alfred off like that. I certainly can't have that happening every time I send him on a mission somewhere. You've proven yourself a liability. Obviously, I can't kill you, or I risk putting myself in the way of Alfred's wrath, not to mention completely ruining my plans. So…" He tapped his finger on the armrest. "What to do with you, Matthew?"

"Arthur…" He swallowed thickly. He hadn't wanted to believe Arthur was behind all this, but there was his proof sitting in front of him. He slipped out of bed, pants a size to large hanging off his hips. "Arthur, please…"

"Well, now that I think about it, I suppose I could use a personal servant. Siphone and Lucaster are usually busy. Alfred's in training. I'm certainly not using a human for the job."

Matthew stiffened. Did the man not even care that he'd betrayed them all? Did he not care about Matthew? Arthur had always confused him with Alfred, always been forgetful of him, but even then…Arthur had never been dismissive of him. He did take Matthew seriously. He did care. Or so he thought. This Arthur, the one in front of him, the one who wouldn't even spare him a glance…had this been the real Arthur the entire time? A dull throb of anger started to rise in his chest. He was usually able to keep his calm in bad situations, but this…this was too much.

"I will not be your servant," he spat. "How dare you think I'll just go along with this! I know you've done something to Alfred. I'm not stupid, Arthur."

Arthur was suddenly there, face inches away from his. A hand shot out and grabbed his chin, holding him in place. "No, you are not, nor have you ever been, Matthew." His eyes roved over Matthew's body until they made it back to his face. "I greatly dislike having to invite so many of you onto my ship. If I had this my way, none of you would be here. But I have found some…opportunities in this place, and I will utilize them even if they are slightly irritating at first. You, unfortunately, just happened to be tacked on to one of those opportunities, so I find myself obligated to keep you around, here, and safe. However, you will not get a free ride by any standards. I find your presence slightly annoying, so you will do something to make up for it."

Matthew opened his mouth to retaliate, but then Arthur's eyes met his own. And then he was lost. He tried to resist at first, tried his hardest to escape the green, infinite gaze, but he couldn't. It swallowed him whole, and he was lost in a void, his mind blank.

"Matthew, obey me."

Arthur released Matthew's chin. Matthew's half-lidded eyes stared at nothing, and Arthur waited several seconds for them to come back into focus. Soft purple eyes rose to meet his own, eyes now filled with utter devotion. Arthur cupped Matthew's cheek, and the boy leaned into his touch, eyes slipping shut.

"Matthew…"

Matthew fell to his knees, his eyelids rising to reveal a pair of violets drowning in adoration. "Yes?" He whispered.

"Will you do as I say?"

Matthew did not hesitate.

"Yes, Lord Britannia."


Dro: Uh oh...well this complicates things.

Next Chapter: Arthur is forced to deal with what his double has done to Matthew. Said double finds himself rethinking his original plan for Matthew after contemplating a surprising discovery.