A/N: It's FRIDAY! Here is another chapter of the story! Hope you enjoy. Only a few more chapters left.

Chapter 9: In Which Progress is Made

"That should do it." Lukas said as he checked to make sure that the makeshift brace was secure.

Matthew sat up and inspected the Norwegian teen's handy work. "Thank you," he said gratefully. "I'd be dead if it wasn't for you and Gil."

"You also wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for me and Gilbert." Lukas sighed. "You would have never come to the woods if Gilbert hadn't invited you and that thing wouldn't be here if I hadn't messed up." There was a pause between them. "You didn't hear me admit to that. Your brother would never let me hear the end of it if he knew."

"My lips are sealed." Matthew said, miming zipping his lips and throwing away the key. Looking over at the dozing Prussian, he asked, "How much longer until he comes back to his regular self?"

"Not much longer. Since he's sleeping it's a good sign that he is almost out of the spells grasp."

A smirk crept across the Canadian's face. "Good. I'm tired of babysitting him." Quickly it went back to seriousness. "Plus we'll need him for the plan."

"That's true." Lukas agreed as he stood up. "I'm going to check on the progress of the others. Just yell if you need anything else."

Matthew nodded and laid back down. Luckily for him, since the albino was out cold, Matthew could rest a bit as well.

After finishing with the Canadian's leg, Lukas decided to join his magically gifted friends as they continued to prepare for the upcoming mission. Arthur, Vlad and Alfred were sitting around the broken down table. The American was watching the two other teens paint the silver liquid onto the bear trap spikes.

"So, this is supposed to slow it down?" Alfred asked.

"Yes." Arthur said curtly.

Vlad grinned. "Silver is a good defense against supernatural creatures.

"Will it buy us enough time for you to do your magic voodoo stuff to get rid of it?" The blond asked hope emanated from him.

Arthur gave a half nod. "There's a seventy-five percent chance it will do that. The other twenty-five percent is us failing and we all die."

"Don't worry. We've got this. Just don't tell Mattie the odds. He's already freaked out enough, even though he's acting like isn't." Vlad pointed out.

Sitting down at the table, Lukas picked up the first bear trap to inspect it. Turning it every which way he nodded in approval before returning it to its place. "He's right." Lukas gestured towards Vlad. "Your brother is terrified but trying to be strong, so don't say anything that could freak him out even more. We need him to do his part and you know it."

With a frown, Alfred nodded. "I just can't wait until this is over. I'm never letting him leave the house again."

Looking around, Lukas noticed the absence of one person."Speaking of brothers, where is my idiot?"

"He went back to the shed to see if he could find anymore crossbow arrows." Vlad shrugged."

"By himself?"

"Said that he figured since the beast is after Mattie, he should be safe." The Romanian answered.

Lukas grumbled and leaned back in his chair. "Idiot."

"He's right though, isn't he?" Al asked. "When we were out there gathering things and Mattie and you were here, we didn't see a single sign of the creature. Yet, Mattie said it stalked the house for several minutes. As long as Mattie's here shouldn't we all be safe?"

"I don't know." Lukas snapped. "I've never dealt with a Wendigo before."

"I thought you guys were experts at this magic stuff." The American teen huffed.

Before any more bitter words could be said between the two teens, there was a clattering sound from the other side of the cabin. Turning around, all they could see was the albino stumbling up to a standing potion and stumbling towards the door.

"Wait, Gil!" Matthew hollered in a half asleep state.

Alfred cursed under his breath and got up to chase after him. What he found when he exited the cabin was not what he expected to see. Gilbert was bent over next to a nearby tree emptying his gut. Relieved that he didn't have to chase his friend down again, Alfred waited by the door and kept an eye out for anything crawling around the woods.

When he had finished, Gilbert straightened up holding his head. "How much did I drink? This so doesn't feel awesome."

"You didn't drink anything." Alfred laughed. "You were under some sort of spell and then slept if off. Maybe it's a magic hang over?"

The older teen ran a hand over his face as he tried to regain his sense of composure. As if the situation came back to him all at once, he froze. "Birdie!"

"He's fine. Lukas did his hoodoo-voodoo and the wound is closed but he won't be able to walk for a few days." Al explained. "He is a bit upset though because he thinks you are still under the spell and you just ran out of the cabin without a word."

His white hair bobbed up and down with a nod of understanding and silently both boys returned to the cabin. Everyone was staring as they made their return.

"You good?" Vlad asked.

"Yeah, other than feeling like I have a crappy hangover."

"Great!" The Romanian said a little too enthusiastically. "I let Mattie fill you in on what's been going on and what the plan is. Al get over here, Mat found some more arrows and we need to get the silver on ASAP. It's starting to thicken."

Grumbling, Alfred followed the others back to the table, while Gilbert joined Matthew on the dilapidated bed.

"How is it?" The self-proclaimed Prussian gestured towards the other teen's leg.

Matthew shrugged. "It doesn't hurt as bad now, but it does feel weird. Almost like I can feel the muscles stitching themselves back together." There was a pause. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I haven't felt this unawesome since the Christmas party last year when Liz drank me under the table. Nothing like a hangover." Gilbert answered. "What this about a plan?"

Matthew looked away, not wanting to meet his friend's crimson eyes. "Arthur, Vlad and Lukas came up with a way to get the beast back to where it came from."

"That's great, Birdie!" Gilbert grinned, until he noticed Matthew's reluctance to meet his eyes. "What's the catch?"

"The beast has to be at a certain location when they do the spell." Gil could tell the Canadian was drawing out his answers on purpose.

"And?"

"They needed a way to get the beast to that spot."

"Come on, Birdie. Out with it."

Matthew swallowed hard and spilled. "I'm going to be bait, so that everyone can be in their spots and so the thing will be in the right place, too."

For a moment, Gilbert was stunned and couldn't seem to voice anything. When he did return to his self, he was fuming. "Alfred agreed to this?! No! There's no way you are doing that. It's too dangerous."

"It's the only way, Gil." Matthew explained. "Plus, I agreed to it. It was my choice."

"I can't let you do that. The pain has made you lose your senses." Gilbert ranted.

"No it hasn't." Mattie glared at his friend.

"Yes it has. I am not letting you do this."

"It's not your choice." Matthew raised his voice. "You're being worse than Al."

"Oh." Gilbert scoffed. "Sorry I care about your safety. Sorry I don't want to lose you to that monster."

"You won't lose me, you idiot." Matthew's voice was strained as he fought back tears. "We have a backup plan but you haven't even listened to hear it. You, Mathias, and Al were going to be positioned a short way off, so you could swoop in and get me out as soon as it's caught." A tear rolled down the Canadian's cheek. "Besides I'm tired of being a burden to everyone. If this is the only way I can help-which it is- then I'm going to do it. With or without your help."

Seeing the determination and hurt on his face, Gilbert's heart and temper melted away. Pulling him into a hug, he comforted his friend. "I'm sorry, Birdie. That was unawesome of me to lose it like that. You are not a burden. You are awesome and I will respect your wishes even though I don't like them."

Matthew let out a heavy sigh and leaned back. He thanked the albino and continued explaining the small details of the plan.

"Everything is ready here," Vlad announced as the others gathered round to go over the plan one more time.

"We'll carry around torches until we are completely ready. The book says that fire deters it for a short time and we will take all the time we can get." Lukas explained. "Gilbert, think you can carry Matthew to the spot?"

Gilbert nodded as he bit his tongue not wanting to start another argument with Mattie.

"Good. Vlad, light the torches and we'll head out." The Norwegian commanded.

With that, the Romanian lit each torch with a magical spark and the first pair teens headed out into the cold night.