Chapter 3

Slowly, Prussia opened his eyes to look up at a stone ceiling. His head hurt. He sat up, too quickly, his mind spinning. He closed his eyes, trying to stop the awful feeling of the room moving around him. He opened his eyes slowly and tried to take in his surroundings. He was still wearing the pants from his military uniform, his boots, and the same black tee-shirt as before. The room he was in was small, small and cold. The walls, floor, and ceiling were rock. He was sitting on a bed that looked like it could fold and latch into the wall. There was a small table with a lamp on it next to the bed.

Prussia sighed. Not even a pen and paper? Really, Russia? He looked around the room. It was blank. Not even a window. He didn't mind that. No sun. He didn't like the sun. It didn't like him either. It turned him into a painful lobster of pain. He was happy to avoid it.

He stood slowly and turned to the door. He expected it to be locked but turned the handle anyway. To his surprise, it opened. He walked out the door, looking around the hallway. It too, was stone, with darkness on one side, and a long granite staircase on the other. He assumed it was the basement. He looked at the stairs, then back down the hallway. He wanted to know what Russia was capable of, and that looked like the way to find out. Slowly, he walked down the hall, towards the darkness, his red eyes adjusting quickly.

At the end of the hallway was a door, a giant, black, wooden door. He stepped towards it, hearing a splash beneath his feet. He looked down. Liquid seeped from under the door frame, dark liquid. Prussia leaned down and touched it. It was blood. He looked back up at the door, leaning against it, listening. Nothing. He tried the handle. Locked.

Figures. He sighed. He didn't exactly want to know what was behind the door, but not knowing was almost worse. There was a lot of blood…

Prussia turned around, looking at the staircase. He shook his head, disturbed with his own curiosity, and walked upstairs.

Russia's house was huge. A giant mansion. But the air inside was cold and dark. Prussia shivered. It was like the whole building was infected. Like there was a deeply ingrained illness inside of it that wouldn't go away. He walked past the first long hallway, into the dining room. It was a grand room, beautiful, with ornate carvings all around it, but the soft light from old lamps was just as cold as the air. The table and chairs in the middle didn't match the room. They were plain, dull, utilitarian, and nothing more.

He turned around suddenly, feeling Russia's sharp breath on his neck. He looked up at the much bigger country, tensing his hands into fists.

"Hello, GDR." Russia smiled.

Prussia didn't answer.

"You don't want to say 'hello' to me, ptitska?" (Little bird)

"Ulgh! Don't call me that!" He didn't know what it meant, but he didn't care. No nicknames. It felt too possessive. He tried to push past Russia but was easily stopped by Ivan's arm against the doorframe.

"You don't like your cage?" Russia looked confused, even hurt.

"Nein!" Prussia looked up at him, trying to hide the panic in his voice, pushing into Russia's arm, still unable to move it.

"I don't like your language," Russia shook his head, forcing Prussia back easily. "It's ugly."

"Yours isn't much better!" Prussia planted his feet, refusing to let Russia push him again.

"Someday, I hope you learn to like it," Russia said with a dangerous smile. "In Russian, your 'nein', is 'nyet'. Why don't you try it?"

"Ny-" The word was difficult for his German tongue. "Nyet."

"Very good." Russia smiled patronizingly.

Prussia shook his head and tried to push past Russia again. Again, the bigger country held him back. "Let me go!" Prussia elbowed Russia in the ribs, trying to get away. He gasped in pain suddenly as Russia effortlessly threw him to the ground.

"You're here because you chose to be, remember?" Russia looked down at him with the same smile that Prussia was growing to hate more every time he saw it.

Prussia said nothing. He stood, slowly, afraid Russia would punch him down again, but the larger country allowed him to stand.

"You should eat, GDR." Russia smiled still.

Prussia mentally cringed at the new title, but it was better than whatever nickname Russia had called him. He refused to admit how hungry he was, but he had barely eaten since the war ended.

"I can show you where the kitchen is, da?" Russia smiled sweetly.

Prussia didn't even look at Russia. He was afraid that the sight of that smile would make the urge to punch Russia's face irresistible. He only nodded and followed Russia into the kitchen. Russia's sisters, Ukraine and Belarus were making supper.

"Vanya, you're home!" Belarus ran up to Russia, throwing her arms around his neck.

Russia pushed her away without a word. Prussia noticed her face as he pushed past her. She looked heartbroken. He turned to Ukraine, who smiled at him kindly. Her smile was nothing like her bother's. It was warm, kind, and friendly. Prussia instantly realized she would be a valuable ally.

"You know we have a new member of the house here." Russia smiled at Ukraine, pushing her hair behind her ear with a brotherly kiss on her forehead. "Will food be ready for us soon, kotyonok?" (Little Kitten)

Ukraine smiled, "Yes." She looked over to Prussia.

He couldn't tell what her expression was. Pity? He smiled back at her as she walked up to him, extending her hand.

"Welcome, GDR. I… I hope you learn to like it here." Her eyes didn't match her words. They weren't hopeful at all.

He took her hand without a reply and bowed politely. He had nothing to say that wouldn't trigger Russia's anger. He glanced back at Belarus, who silently walked back to the boiling soup on the stove. She kept her head down.

Ukraine's gentle voice broke into his thought's again. "We're all rebuilding from the war… so we don't have all the food in the world, but it'll be enough for all of us." Prussia could tell she was trying to sound more reassuring than she felt.

"Who's… all of us?" He knew he should have paid more attention in that meeting.

Russia stepped forward again, "Besides the four of us, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland. There are others, but they aren't staying here."

Prussia's stomach dropped. Poland. He didn't want to see Poland any more than he was sure Poland wanted to see him. He doubted any of them would want to see him, but Lithuania and Poland especially. He tried not to think about it, looking over to Belarus again. She was stirring the soup with a giant knife.

Who are these people!? Prussia held in another shiver of both dread and cold, suddenly realizing that he was the only one in the room not wearing long sleeves. It was freezing. He crossed his arms over his chest to keep warm, trying to look tougher than he felt, "So, what am I supposed to do until-"

"Gil!?"

Prussia turned to the sound of a tray crashing to the ground. Hungary. Her dress was torn, her hair tied back. No flower. He looked down at her boot-clad feet. She'd dropped a platter of dishes. None were broken. He rushed forward, kneeling to help her clean up. She knelt too.

"I… I didn't… I'm sorry you're here." She whispered, watching Russia walk up to Ukraine, conversing with her about the meal she was helping to prepare.

Prussia didn't react to her pity. He shook his head, she hadn't been at the meeting. "Where were you?"

"Fighting on the front lines… Russia…"

Prussia nodded. She didn't need to say more. "Yeah."

"I heard about… the spit, but." Hungary looked up at him, meeting his eyes, "I didn't realize you were sent here too. I'm so sorry."

Prussia stood, clenching his fists as Russia grabbed Hungry by the arm suddenly, pulling her to her feet.

"Be more careful next time, da?"

"Let go of her!" Prussia snapped, watching as Russia's fingers dug into Hungary's arm. He took one step back as Russia threw Hungary to the ground and turned to face him. Russia grabbed his shirt, dragging him to the wall and slamming the back of his head into it. Prussia tried to push Russia's arm off his neck as it pinned him to the wall.

"You aren't allowed to speak to me like that, ptitska." He pressed harder into Prussia's throat, smiling as the smaller country only struggled harder.

Prussia glanced over at Ukraine. She turned away and said nothing. His vision started to dim, Russia's arm making breathing increasingly difficult. "R-Russia…" He whispered, closing his eyes. He gasped for breath as Russia slammed him onto the floor, the skin over his cheekbone breaking as it struck the tile. He didn't move for a moment, trying to force oxygen into his lungs. He inhaled through his teeth sharply as he felt a well-aimed kick at his lower back. He looked up at Hungary, who stood, appalled and furious. He shook his head. Don't stop him.

"Apologize for your words, GDR. I take you into my home, offer to let you eat at my table, and in return, you yell at me? That's not very kind."

Prussia started to raise himself to stand but was kicked down by Russia again. His head was still spinning from the lack of oxygen. He looked up to see Belarus standing over him, her knife dripping from the soup.

"Do you want help, brother?" She smiled, twirling her knife, looking down at Prussia like he was prey.

"N-Nyet."

Prussia heard fear in Russia's voice. He saw him take a step back from Belarus. He took the opportunity to try and stand again, Hungary grabbed his shoulders, helping him up. He glanced at Russia, who was still looking at Belarus and her knife. His head was clearing, and his vision was returning to normal. He stood ready to fight Russia, even if it was a losing battle. He needed a good fight. He met Russia's eyes with a smirk, daring him to fight.

Russia glanced back at Belarus, who stood looking up at him with a smile even more disturbing than Ivan's.

"Just… finish supper." Russia snapped at Belarus, turning to Prussia. "I'll deal with you later." He turned and walked out of the room quickly.

Prussia sighed slightly. He wasn't sure if he was relieved, and he doubted the confrontation was over. He looked back at Belarus. She watched Russia walk down the hallway, then back up at him. She brushed tears away from her eyes quickly and glared at him.

"My brother doesn't like you, so I don't either." She snarled, turning back to the soup, stirring it with the knife again.

Prussia looked back at Hungary, who took her arm from around his shoulders, no longer needing to help him stand. He took her wrist gently as she turned towards the door. She grimaced. He let go.

"Did he hurt you?" Prussia whispered.

Hungary nodded, "My people… what he's done…We fought hard but..." She shook her head, "It's over now. I'll get away from him someday, but for now, I'm here with the rest of you."

Prussia tried to take her hand, but she pulled away, bending down to pick up the tray she'd dropped. He noticed the edge of a bandage, wrapped around her arm, peeking out from her long sleeves.

"Gil?" She looked back at him, "Don't do anything stupid." She turned and walked out of the room.

He watched her leave. He wouldn't make any promises. He was practically an expert at stupid decisions, especially when they resulted in a fight. He turned as he heard a step behind him. It was Ukraine.

"Um… would you help me set the table?" She smiled, kindly, holding out another tray of dishes to him.

He shrugged, nodding. "Sure." He took the tray from her hands.

"Spasiba."

"What?"

She smiled again, laughing slightly, "It means 'thank you'."

"Ah. Spatzeiba?" He tried and failed.

"Gentler…" She smiled, "Spah-see-ba."

He sighed, "Spaziba"

She smiled again, "You'll get it eventually. It takes time."

"Ja."

"Da," She corrected, gently.

"Da." He didn't like the way the Russian words felt on his tongue. He missed arguing with Ludwig in German. German sounded extra awesome when he was shouting it, at least, he thought so. He clumsily turned around, walking out of the kitchen and through the hall to the dining room. Lithuania was already starting to arrange the dishes on the table. He glanced up at Prussia and turned around to leave the room.

"Hey." Prussia set the tray of dishes on the table and ran up to Lithuania.

"What do you want?" Lithuania didn't look at him.

"I… I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Lithuania looked squarely into his face. "Sorry!? Do you have any idea what you and your brother did to me? What you made me do!?"

Prussia took a step back. He'd never seen Lithuania this angry before. He shook his head, not knowing what to say. He always had something to say, but not this time. He looked into Lithuania's eyes, they weren't angry, they were hurt. Prussia sighed, and looked away.

There was a long, strained silence for a moment, then Lithuania reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handkerchief and held it out to Prussia.

"Your cheek. It's bleeding." He said, flatly.

Prussia touched his face, pulling his hand away to see blood on his fingertips. He'd almost forgotten about it. At least it wouldn't take long to heal, being a country had at least a few perks. He took the handkerchief Lithuania had offered.

"Danke." He nodded, pressing the white fabric to his skin. He pulled it away, his blood soaked through the cloth.

"Keep it." Lithuania turned away, walking out of the room through the left side door without looking at Prussia again.

Prussia watched him leave, pressing the cloth to his cheek again, trying to stop the bleeding. He turned to the dishes, reaching for them and stopping himself, looking at the blood on his fingers. He sighed. He'd only been here one day and Russia had already drawn blood. He looked back at the door where Lithuania had left. He wasn't sure if Lithuania would ever forgive him. But he would keep trying to apologize. He already had Russia to deal with, the last thing he needed was more enemies. He turned suddenly as he heard footsteps behind him. It was Estonia and Latvia. Latvia carried more dishes and Estonia carried a large steaming pot.

"Th-that's Liet's handkerchief…" Latvia said, trembling.

Prussia shrugged, pulling it away from his cheek. "Um, yeah, he let me use it…"

"That means he doesn't completely hate you," the little blond said as he set the tray of dishes on the table and began setting them up.

Prussia looked back at Estonia, who only looked at him over his glasses and shook his head.

"You've been here one day and you've already-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Prussia frowned at him.

Estonia didn't react, only walked forward, setting the pot down on the table and helping Latvia set the rest of the dishes and silverware.

Prussia turned to help them.

"Uh uh," Estonia shook his head, "Not until you wash your hands."

Prussia sighed, turning towards the door he'd come in through.

"There's a bathroom that way," Estonia nodded to the left side door, "You'd be able to avoid Belarus."

Prussia nodded, that sounded like a good idea to him. He walked towards the door, opening it slowly.

"The bathroom is d-down the hall, third door on the right," Latvia said carefully. "I… I can show you if… if you want."

Prussia looked back at the tiny blond country. He shook his head, "I'll find it." He walked through the door, closing it behind him. Latvia wasn't really a friend either. None of the Baltics were. The only person in the house he could really call a 'friend' was Hungary, and even that was stretching it sometimes. Ukraine didn't seem as threatening as the others, but she was still Russia's sister. He didn't trust her. Lithuania and Poland hated him, Latvia didn't like him, and Estonia was, as far as he could tell, completely indifferent towards him. He shook his head, walking into the bathroom. He needed to start making allies. He'd been told before that his personality was abrasive. That wasn't the word he'd use for it, but he tried to think about how to make friends with the others, knowing if he was going to keep his promise to his brother and survive, he would have to.

He turned the old metal handles on the faucet. It sputtered for a moment before letting a stream of icy water run into the bowl below it. Prussia shivered as he washed the blood off his hands, again realizing how cold he was. He'd had to give up his Prussian military jacket, but even his old black winter coat would be good enough. The house was freezing, and it was the middle of summer. He didn't know how Russia and the other's dealt with it. Sure, his own country could be cold at times, but nothing like this. This was a cold that infected everything.

He watched the bloody pink water swirl down the drain in the sink and looked down at his hands. They didn't feel clean. He wondered if they'd ever feel clean. He sighed. They were blaming him for the war… but if it kept his brother safe, he'd take it. He'd take all of it if it meant they'd all forgive Ludwig. It was his duty as an older brother, and he'd made a promise years ago. A promise he fully intended to keep. Besides, they were right. He'd done terrible things, things he wasn't, and never would be proud of.

He turned on the faucet again and splashed the freezing water into his face, trying to wipe the memories away from his conscious thought. He washed the blood off his cheek and held Lithuania's handkerchief under the water. The cold of it would help the blood come out. He scrubbed at it with his fingers, trying to get the stains out. He did the best he could, the shadow of the blood still visible in a pale pink on the white cloth, but it was mostly gone. He turned off the water again and dried his hands on the embroidered towel that hung on the hook beside the sink. He shoved the handkerchief into his pocket. He dried his face on the towel, replacing it on the hook, and walked out of the door, down the hall, and back into the dining room. Everyone else was already sitting down.

A/N: So... I think I'm giving up on not uploading these chapters as I write them. I'm just so excited to post them! I have no self-control! *sighs*

Prussia's first day with Russia is, so far, not as bad as he expected it would be. We get to actually kind of meet the Baltics! In my original fic, all the Baltics befriend Prussia a bit too readily I think. Have no fear, their relationships will all grow, but it's going to take more time than it did in the original. Leit and Poland especially have a lot of baggage when it comes to Prussia. At this point, I think Poland would be more afraid of East Germany than he would be of Russia. (that will change though, unfortunately...)

Since it was GDR's choice to become GDR and join the Soviet Union, Prussia is certainly not being as defiant as he is in most other fics. Don't worry though, he's not going to be so compliant forever. Especially if Russia keeps calling him Ptitska (Little Bird). Speaking of nicknames...

Russia actually has nicknames for everyone in this story, though you only heard Prussia's and Ukraine's in this chapter. He has pet names, (like 'Little Bird' and 'Little Kitten', and later 'Little Mouse' guess who that's for?) for most of them, and he will use the diminutive names for many of them later. So far, Belarus is the only one who's called him 'Vanya', but he doesn't like it coming from her. He really only likes it when Ukraine calls him 'Vanya'. The idea for this comes from the fact that Russia thinks of everyone as his friend, and in Russia, friends are almost always referred to by a nickname or name diminutive instead of their full first name. (I can't get a diminutive for Gilbert though, so yeah...). It also comes from Russia's aggressive possessiveness. Again, he doesn't mean any of these nicknames in a sexual way, though I know the fandom does have him call Prussia 'little bird' in the ships a lot. I still like that as his chosen nickname for Prussia, and I have plans for using the nickname later on... so it shall stick! I especially like it because it distorts something Gilbert loves. (I'm so evil...)

I brought the rating down to T, in hopes to make it easier for people to find this story. It seems that this site likes to only display K-T fics for most searches unless you specifically select "All Ratings". Please let me know if you think this fic needs to have the rating increased back to M. So far there hasn't been a lot of violence, apart from the first chapter, but it is going to get worse, much worse.

I'd love to hear your ideas, historical corrections, and language tips if you speak either Russian or German (or both!) I've actually studied both languages myself, but I know I'm a bit rusty, and I never spoke either fluently. I want to be as accurate as possible with it all. I have specifically chosen not to use Cyrillic because most English speakers cannot read it. But it's a beautiful alphabet and I'll get it in here somewhere, sometime. XD

My author's notes are always long it seems. If they're annoying, please let me know lol. As always, I love to read reviews and will try to reply to them all!