Chapter 2

A pillar of light streamed through Prussia's prison cell, the outline of the door shining against the wall, Russia's gigantic shape coming into focus in shadow on the stone. Prussia closed his eyes, then opened them again, lifting his head from the wall, pulling his chained legs underneath the bed where he sat, trying to hide them from Russia. He wouldn't be seen as defeated. Not now. Not ever. He turned slowly to look at Russia, still in silhouette from the contrast of the hall to the dark room. Prussia looked away again as the door closed behind Russia. He forced himself not to react to the sound of approaching giant boots against the stone. It had been months since the fall of Berlin, but he could still feel the bruises from broken ribs every time he breathed too deeply. He shivered as Russia sat next to him, the unrelenting cold Russia brought with him infecting the room.

"Have you come to gloat?" Prussia spoke slowly, turning away from Russia to look at the wall.

"No. I've come to offer you a deal." Russia

"A deal?" Prussia chuckled.

"I'm not a monster, you know."

"No, you're not." You're a psychopathic freak. Prussia finished in his head.

"I'm glad you agree."

Prussia could feel Russia's sickening smile boring through him. He said nothing.

"You know they're blaming you," Russia sighed, almost kindly. "I know it wasn't your fault, but someone has to take the blame, don't they?"

Prussia didn't answer, looking away. Russia was being… nice? It scared him.

"And now that you're no longer a nation…"

Prussia turned to look at Russia suddenly. "Either tell me why you're here or get out."

"Do not speak to me that way." Russia's voice was stern and cold.

Prussia turned away, looking straight forward, silent.

"Fine." Russia stood, turning to leave as he spoke, "If you don't want a chance to save your baby brother, that's fine with me."

"Wait."

Russia stopped and looked back over his shoulder with a cold smile. "Da?"

"What are you talking about?" Prussia whispered.

"I told you. I came here to make a deal." Russia smiled, turning back to Prussia.

"I'm listening."

…...

Prussia glanced at Germany, who's hands were wringing under the table, his jaw clenching and releasing. He was afraid for his people. Prussia noticed the bruises on his brother's wrists, realizing with anger that the Allies hadn't been any kinder to his brother than they'd been to him. He hadn't expected them to be.

The other nations sat around the table, the Allies on one side, the Axis on the other, their bosses around them, arguing, and explaining what was going to happen to Europe, especially the Axis powers of Europe. Guards stood at the doors of the large, plain room, ready to stop anyone who tried to leave early. The room's lighting was dim. He figured it was supposed to feel calm, but it didn't, it felt threatening. He felt angry, sick, and ashamed of what he, and his brother, had done. He glanced at Poland, who hadn't once looked at him. The blonde country's arm was still wrapped in a sling, and the faint outline of a scar could be seen on his cheek. Gil had given it to him. He knew the little country's body was probably still wrapped in bandages from what they'd done. They'd left scars that would never heal. He wasn't proud of it.

"Germany," The voice of America's boss drifted back into Prussia's mind, "Will remain split into East, and West."

Prussia saw West sigh in relief. He smiled a little, he hadn't been afraid of the Allies killing him, but West had. He turned to his brother and smiled, nodding. His eyes met Russia's. He shivered. He hated what he was about to do, but everything rested on West's ability to survive. No matter what. He'd take the blame. West had to survive.

"West Germany," America turned to him, "You will be granted aid from the USA, and in return, we will begin the processes of demilitarization, denazification, democratization, and decentralization."

Germany sighed in relief, nodding. Prussia smirked, somewhat surprised the young country could pronounce such big words.

"What about East?" Germany asked, almost hesitantly.

"East Germany is formally responsible for the war. He will be shown no mercy by this conference." America shook his head, glaring at Prussia.

Prussia kept his head up, looking straight ahead, not meeting America's eyes. He half waited for his brother to defend him, but he knew Ludwig was too smart for that. He closed his eyes with a sigh as Russia stood.

"Your brother," Russia walked around the table to Prussia slowly as he spoke, "Has agreed to come with me, in exchange for your freedom, West Germany."

"W-What?" Germany stood suddenly.

Prussia looked straight ahead at the wall, afraid if he looked at his brother tears would betray him.

"You heard me." Russia cooed, "I need payment for everything I did to help the Allies during the war. Your brother has agreed, of his own free will," Russia put his hand on Prussia's shoulder, "To join the Soviet Union. He needs to learn that he has to pay for everything he did during the war, and I will help him understand this."

Prussia could hear that childish smile in Russia's voice. He didn't shiver again, at least, not visibly.

Germany faced Russia, still standing, but said nothing, his hands curling into shaking fists.

"West…" Prussia whispered, forcing his voice to steady. "West please…" He clenched his jaw tighter.

"You can't do this, I won't let you! I'll find some other way to-" Germany's voice was thick with rage.

"Shut up, West!" Prussia stood, turning to him, his eyes betraying emotions he wouldn't voice.

"I can't let you do this."

"You don't have a choice." Prussia looked away from him, unable to look at the pain in his brother's eyes. He wouldn't let himself break, not in front of Russia.

Prussia stepped forward to face the Allied nations and their leaders.

"East Germany," America's boss looked straight at him, but Prussia looked at the wall, "Do you agree from this point forward to be known as the German Democratic Republic?"

"Ja." He spoke through his teeth, trying to keep his eyes on the wall. His brother's breathing behind him was distracting, painful… he tried to ignore it.

"And you agree to live as part of the Soviet Union?"

"J…Ja." Prussia tried desperately to steady his voice.

"And you understand that you will live with the rest of the Soviet Union?"

"Ja." That thought scared him more than he would ever admit.

"And you understand that once you leave this room, from this point forward, you will have no contact with West Germany, apart from pre-scheduled, supervised meetings, determined by the Allied forces, only if deemed necessary?"

He could hear his brother's breath grow angry again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Ja."

"In exchange for the German Democratic Republic's acceptance into the Soviet Union, Russia, do you agree to not interfere with any of the rest of the Allied forces dealings with West Germany?"

"Da."

Prussia could hear that horrible smug smile in Russia's words. He inhaled sharply as he felt the cold gloved hand touch his shoulder. He mentally kicked himself for it, angry that he would give Russia any hint that he was afraid of him.

"Germany?" America called him forward.

Prussia could feel his brother shaking with anger and grief as he walked up to stand beside him. He turned to face his brother, standing straight like the soldier he was. Slowly, he unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his military jacket to reveal the black tee-shirt he always wore underneath. He let Russia pull the jacket off his shoulders and hand it to Germany, who took it, fighting back tears. Prussia took a deep, shaky breath, and reached up behind his neck.

"Bruder nein…" Ludwig's broken whisper barely made it to his ears.

Prussia said nothing, setting his jaw, forcing down the catch in his throat. He unlatched his iron cross and lowered it into his brother's outstretched hand.

Prussia met his brother's eyes, blinking back tears, refusing to allow himself to cry. He looked away, back down at his iron cross in his brother's hand. So many memories...

"Don't hurt him, Russia…" Germany whispered through grit teeth, looking up at the tall country, "Please…Please…"

Prussia closed his eyes, listening to his brother beg was almost physically painful.

"You're in no position to make demands." Russia shook his head, grabbed Prussia's shoulder again, and practically dragged him to his chair next to Lithuania, forcing him into it roughly.

Prussia noticed Lithuania wince as Russia's coat brushed past him. He'd known Lithuania since they were children, they had history. Lithuania had always been stronger than he looked. Prussia didn't want to think about what Russia must have done to him to make him so afraid. He caught Lithuania looking at him, but the dark-haired country looked away as soon as he tried to meet his eyes. Again, Prussia noticed that Lithuania was shaking.

"Are you all right?" Prussia whispered, hoping Russia couldn't hear. The iron grip on his leg let him know that he'd failed. He winced.

"I'm fine," Lithuania whispered, looking away as Russia smiled at him.

What have I gotten myself into? Prussia shoved his hands into his pockets to keep them from shaking. He wouldn't let anyone, especially Ludwig, see how scared he really was.

The negotiations seemed to take hours. Every time Prussia dared to try and look at his brother Russia's hand dug into his leg. It wasn't painful, but he hated its possessiveness. He was trying not to think about what Russia was going to do to him once they were away from the rest of the Allied countries. Everyone knew Russia was a monster, cruel, and cold, and ruthless. Russia pretended to be sane in front of everyone else, and they all went with it. They all looked the other way. Prussia didn't have that choice anymore.

Finally, the room fell silent. America and his boss stood first, then Russia and his. Prussia glanced at Russia's leader. He didn't like him. Something about him reminded him of his own boss, the one he and Germany and he had been forced to serve under for so long. There was something in his eyes that scared Prussia.

"This conference is now adjured." America's boss said confidently with a firm nod.

Prussia looked back at his brother again, standing. He knew going up to him would trigger Russia's wrath, but he wasn't sure he'd care. He didn't know if he was ever going to see Ludwig again, but he couldn't let Russia see him break, not now, not ever. He wouldn't give Russia the satisfaction. But he couldn't leave without saying goodbye...

Germany ran up to him as soon as he could and grabbed his arm before Russia could stop him.

"Take your hands, off my property," Russia said calmly, his sickening smile curling on his lips.

'Property'. Prussia ignored the screaming voice in his head telling him to beg America for some way out of this.

"Let me say goodbye," Germany demanded, facing Russia, his hands gripping into fists.

"Nyet." Russia grabbed Prussia's arm, ready to drag him away.

America stopped him. "Give them a minute, Ivan, for God's sake…"

Russia took a step back. "You have two minutes." Russia nodded, turning away, ordering the rest of the Soviet Union to follow him. They waited by the door.

"You shouldn't-" Prussia didn't look at Germany, keeping his hands at his sides.

"Don't die." Germany grabbed his brother's shoulders. "Don't you dare die on me."

"I'm a country, it's really hard to kill-"

"I don't care! You stay alive. You keep fighting. I will get you away from him. I promise."

Prussia ignored him. "Just… take care of Gilbird for me, ok? And don't get him the stupid blue pellets, he likes the red ones-"

"You've spent your whole life protecting me. Stop it! You do what you have to do to stay alive, but… don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. Don't do anything stupid. Stay. Alive."

"Will you take care of Gilbird?" Prussia looked up at him, refusing to acknowledge his previous sentences.

"Ja." Germany sighed finally, "Ja I will."

"Danke." Prussia nodded.

"Prussia…"

"My name…" Prussia took a deep breath to clear the catch in his throat. "Is Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Or just… Gil, or… just…your stupid older bruder."

"Gil… don't die." Germany's eyes filled with tears. He didn't care.

"Ja…Ja, ok." Prussia nodded, tears filling his eyes too. He looked up at his little brother, putting his hands on Germany's arms. His voice broke, "You keep your head up. Remember…you're almost as awesome as me." He smirked.

"You idiot…" Germany tried to force his voice to steady.

"Yeah… yeah probably…" He let the tears spill over his cheeks.

"Ich Lei-"

"Don't!" Prussia stopped him. "Don't you DARE make this harder…" His breath shook, "I… I have to go…"

Prussia jumped as his brother's arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a strong embrace. He held onto his brother just as tightly, a single, gasping sob escaping his lips. He took a deep breath, pulling away.

"GDR!" Russia's voice snapped, angrily.

Prussia looked up into his brother's blue eyes. "I…" He couldn't think of what else to say. "Auf-"

"Gill, Don't…" Ludwig's voice was thick with tears he wasn't ashamed of.

"Auf Wiedersehen… Bruder." Prussia couldn't look at him anymore. He would keep him alive. He would keep him safe. But he couldn't watch him cry. He couldn't do it. He turned towards Russia, who only smiled.

"Gil!" Germany called after him, hoping he would look back. He stood straight and gave his brother an old Prussian salute.

Prussia cleared his throat, keeping down the stupid sob that tried to force its way out of his mouth. He nodded to his brother, the tears refusing to stay in his eyes.

Russia grabbed his arm, pulling him forward. As they reached the door, Prussia glanced quickly back over his shoulder, before looking straight ahead, trying to keep up with Russia.

Ich leibe dich… bruder…

...

A/N: So... I wasn't going to post another chapter until the whole thing is finished, but I'm so stupid happy with this chapter that I had to post it. Again, it ends on a cliffhanger... but kinda not. At least, I thought it wasn't bad enough to mind giving it to you guys. I worked on this chapter until I made myself cry, and the brother's goodbye was one of the hardest things to write. ever. Let me know if you liked it. I didn't think they could be too emotional in front of the others, but at the same time, they're brothers before their soldiers. They love each other (again, in a non-pairing, brotherly way!).

We got some hints about Lithuania in this one. He and Latvia do feature quite heavily later on, so I must establish him now! I hate how a lot of stories portray Liet as a complete wuss... he's not! Russia may have broken him, but he's not a wuss! Actually, I think Leit is one of the bravest characters in this whole story. We shall see how that develops later on, but he's just as much of a 'big brother' personality as Gil.

I am aware that I did make history go a little faster than it actually did, including combining the many conferences negotiating the end of WWII and the division of Europe into one conference. Also, the dissolution of Prussia is implied to have already happened, when it hadn't yet. While that is a very dramatic moment for Prussia, the biggest reason for that is the loss of his identity, which I'm addressing anyway with him becoming GDR (again, a little faster than he did in history... but yeah...) Ok. Enough history lesson. :)

As always, I love reading reviews, reactions, and comments! I try and reply to each one!

I hope you are all enjoying this so far! (well... maybe not 'enjoying'... maybe that's not the right word...)

Disclaimer: I don't own Axis Powers-Hetalia. Or history.