Almost as if it was well practiced, the man with dark hair and purple eyes caught Gilbert. He obviously wasn't very strong, as he nearly fell to the ground with the man, but it was effective none-the-less.
"That idiot," the man muttered under his breath, setting Gilbert on the ground carefully before standing up and brushing himself off. Matthew found himself looking at the man in the eyes, as if he was looking him up and down. "I take it that you are Matthew Williams?"
"Um, y-yes," Matthew nodded.
"My name is Roderich Edelstein," the man sighed. "Now, I will need you to help me move this idiot so that I can help him."
"Right," Matthew swiftly knelt down.
"I will take his legs, you pick up his other half," Roderich stated and Matthew obeyed. Gilbert was heavy, but Matthew chose not to say anything. Gilbert was really passed out, not even making a sound or moving once. "He must trust you a lot," Roderich stated as they walked through the rather small house.
"What do you mean?" Matthew asked quietly.
"We'll put him on the table," Roderich grunted, looking over at an oak dining table fit for quite a number of people. Luckily, it was empty, and they hoisted Gilbert onto it. "He must trust you, considering he's allowing himself to let his guard down around you."
"And that means he trusts you, too?" Matthew asked.
"He had to from the first time I met him," Roderich sighed, and absently looked over Gilbert. "He was far worse off last time."
"He's been worse?" Matthew squeaked and Roderich glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow before turning back to Gilbert.
"Elizaveta must be having quite the time tracking you two," Roderich sighed and seemed to be testing Gilbert's ribs. He twitched a few times, but didn't seem close to waking up.
"You know her, too?" Matthew blinked.
"You could say that," Roderich smiled slightly. "She is my wife."
"And Gilbert trusts you enough to pass out in your house?" Matthew asked, looking back at the criminal. He didn't even look at peace when he was asleep...
"I don't quite understand it, either," Roderich stated, opening one of Gilbert's eyes before closing it again. "He doesn't come often, only when he's in this bad of shape. No matter where he is, he'll only do this in a place where he knows he'll be safe for a long period of time. Considering how short of a time you have known him, it is rather impressive that he trusts you to this extent."
"Yeah, I-I guess it is," Matthew muttered, looking at the ground.
"Please tell me that you two have confessed to each other," Roderich sighed, testing Gilbert's pulse.
"What?" Matthew stumbled back slightly. "H-how could you…how could you tell?"
"With Elizaveta as my wife, I have come to easily know the signs of love," Roderich sighed, stepping back to look at the criminal. "Honestly, what did he do this time?"
"We ran into I-Ivan," Matthew muttered, just shivering at the memory. "He was protecting me and was beat up pretty bad."
"How did he get his concussion?" Roderich asked calmly.
"H-He was hit in the head by a pipe…" Matthew cast his gaze downwards.
"Of course he did," Roderich let out a groan. "I'll be back, don't move." He turned and left the room, leaving Matthew standing alone with Gilbert just lying in front of him. So…Gilbert trusted him. That was good. Considering the life he'd lead up until then, it would be hard for him to trust anyone and they'd only known each other for a few days. Matthew knew that the feelings he had for Gilbert were probably very serious and it was very reassuring to know that Gilbert might be serious about it as well.
Roderich came back, storing what looked like a cell phone into his pocket.
"There is not much I can do for him, other than make him rest," Roderich sighed. "You will probably have to help with that. As long as he is asleep, he should be fine, but he will want to move as soon as he is awake, which we cannot allow to happen."
"How long until he should move?" Matthew asked.
"It should be something close to a week or more," Roderich shook his head. "Knowing him, he should be fine after about three days. He needs to move, even I know that. Three days will be enough."
"Just three days?" Matthew worriedly glanced at Gilbert.
"He recovers quickly," Roderich stated. "And he knows how to suck up pain when need be. He still has a few injuries, things I know haven't healed properly, especially that scar on his leg from when he was six."
"You know about that, too?" Matthew asked.
"The first time I met him, it was badly infected and partially re-opened," Roderich sighed. "He'd been fairly beaten up that day, he was probably 16 or 17, by my guess. I've seen him a couple times since then, but that scar most likely won't ever get any better."
Matthew bit his lip, deciding to ask a question that had been weighing on his mind for a while.
"Do you think there's any chance he'll be able to stop being a criminal?" Matthew asked quietly. Out of everyone they'd met, beside Ivan, Roderich seemed to know him the best. "Is there any way that he could…"
"Stop?" Roderich offered, glancing at Gilbert. "No. I don't know all of what happened to him, even with Ivan, but I do know that he is past the point of being able to stop anything. At this point, his choices are to run, be arrested, or go back to Ivan. There is no time or room for anything else."
"That's why he left his brother," Matthew muttered.
"At any rate, he will have to leave you as well," Roderich stated and Matthew looked at Gilbert. He wasn't anywhere close to stirring, he almost looked dead, but he wasn't peaceful enough. He probably wouldn't ever be.
"I know," Matthew sighed.
"Any leads?" Alfred asked Elizaveta after she walked out of the security section of the train station.
"Not exactly," she sighed. "All we had was someone who seemed to be drunk, which could have been them, but we can't be sure. There's a chance that they could still be in Switzerland. There is also the fact that Ivan is probably still here as well."
"If Gilbert is injured, then that means my brother could be in danger," Alfred pressed. He definitely didn't like the idea of something happening to his brother, especially if Ivan was involved in some way. Gilbert's only job was to keep Matthew safe. If he failed, Alfred would make sure to kill him. And Ivan.
"In any case," Elizaveta sighed. "That train the drunk person went to was going to Milan. That's where I live and I happen to now at least one person in charge there. I'll call him and tell him to look around just in case."
Alfred nodded, sticking his hands into his pockets as she pulled out her phone and called someone. He glanced over at where his parents were standing, simply talking about something, probably Alfred. They weren't going to get him to just go home, not now. They were close, he could feel it. All they needed was a little more time and then they could corner them and everything would just end.
He couldn't help but wonder about what would happen after everything ended. Would it just all go back to normal? What, exactly, would happen to Gilbert? What would they do about Ivan? There was pretty much no way to keep Ivan still and no one could tell what that maniac was thinking. What would they do about him after all of this? He'd taken an interest in Alfred, one that obviously wasn't going to be good for the boy at all.
"Thanks, Lovi," Elizaveta sighed, ending the call and turned to Alfred. "So…what are you gonna do now?"
"About what?" Alfred sighed, looking back at the woman.
"Everything," Elizaveta shrugged. "I mean, there's the whole Ivan thing and then your dads are really worried, so I dunno. What do you think you're going to do?"
"I'm not worried that much about the Ivan thing," Alfred sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "As long as I stick in public around you guys, it looks like he won't come near me, unless he gets really brave. And I'm not going anywhere until we get my brother back, so I don't have to worry about my parents."
"Try thinking about what would be better for your parents, rather than just yourself," Elizaveta shrugged, walking in front of him. "Especially Arthur. He's worried sick for you. Staying around and risking your life will only worry him more."
"I'm not risking my life," Alfred groaned. "I'm perfectly fine like I am. I'm not scared."
"But Arthur is," Elizaveta pressed. "He's lived with Francis for a while, he's heard the stories of Ivan a lot. He knows what he's capable of and he just saw it on a video. He knows Ivan wants you now and he's terrified of losing you."
"He's not going to!" Alfred groaned. "I'm going to stay right where I am, nothing is going to happen to me."
"Is this because you're the hero?" Elizaveta sighed.
"Yes," Alfred nodded. "I'm a hero. I have to make sure everything stays the way it should. The way it should be is that I am with my brother and both of my dads back in England with no crazy criminal going after anyone! I want everything to be like that again! Is that just too much to ask?"
"Apparently, yes," Elizaveta sighed and Alfred groaned, running a hand through his hair.
"I'm not sure what to do, Francis," Arthur sighed, not even really caring that Francis had an arm wrapped around him. He'd felt about ready to have a panic attack watching that video. That man, Ivan, was insane and he wanted to kidnap Alfred just like he'd kidnapped Gilbert and even Francis.
"I would just say to let him be," Francis suggested.
"And if I do that and something bad happens?" Arthur shook his head, looking over at Alfred, who was talking to Elizaveta.
"I do not know what to tell you," Francis shrugged. "There is a lot going on now. But you will have to trust Alfred. You do, after all, want to trust him with your own company."
"That is something entirely different!" Arthur snapped. "This is his own life, Francis! I don't want him to just disappear. One child doing that is already too much."
"Mathieu is with Gilbert Beilschmidt, of all people, he is safe," Francis sighed.
"You think," Arthur clarified. "All you know of that boy is two years of his life, up until he was eight bloody years old!"
"I trust him," Francis stated. "Alfred can handle himself as well or perhaps better than Gilbert against Ivan. I have faith in him."
"But what if faith isn't enough?" Arthur looked at the ground. "His pure luck and charisma isn't getting him very far anymore. You saw how close Ivan was last time. What do you think he plans to do?"
"What is going through Ivan's mind is anyone's guess," Francis shrugged slightly. "But I am fairly sure about what is going through Alfred's mind right now just by looking at him. He is going to be the hero that saves the day and won't let anything get in his way." Arthur swiftly looked up at Alfred, who was talking to Elizaveta with that determined expression of his. Arthur had seen it many times. When the lad wanted to keep a bird that fell from its nest. When his brother scraped his knee at school. Plenty of times on this whole bloody journey.
"One last slip-up," Arthur sighed, looking over at his partner. "One more close call and he is going home, no matter what he has to say about it."
"Oui, of course," Francis smiled knowingly and Arthur rolled his eyes, looking down the road. "You know, that offer I gave you a couple of days ago about 'relieving stress' is still available."
Without a second thought, Arthur jabbed his elbow into the Frenchman's stomach.
"You bloody frog," Arthur glared at Francis, who weakly smiled back at him.
"Je t'aime, aussi," Francis smiled. Arthur shook his head, chuckling slightly.
"I will think about it," Arthur sighed before walking towards Elizaveta to ask about any information she gathered.
Je t'aime, aussi-I love you, too.
This was hard to write, no idea why, but it was. Seriously writing a FrUK scene was interesting, since I've never really done it before, but it happened and it was cute. Arthur is such a tsundere, it's cute, God… Oh, and there's a little bit of PruCan drama going down up there, just wait a little bit and shit will start hitting the fan.
Anywho, I'm, like, half asleep and so my author's note probably sucks right now…
But please review.