Chapter 8

Prussia groaned, trying to wake up. His head hurt. He opened his eyes, slowly, and looked around the room. It was all stone. He was lying on the ground, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. He noticed a few bruises that hadn't been there when they'd left for Berlin. He looked up at the room, it was empty. No windows, and only a single door, a heavy, grey door, and a single light hanging from the ceiling. He groaned again as consciousness slowly drifting back to him. He winced, realizing his wrists were cuffed behind his back. His ankles were bound. He was lying on his side on the freezing stone floor. He shivered in the cold that tried to force its way into his chest. Breathing hurt. He struggled at the cuffs, knowing it wouldn't do any good. He tried to sit up, leaning on his elbow. It wasn't comfortable, and he could feel his arm starting to go numb. He inhaled through his teeth, the pain from his broken hand slowly coming into focus again. He noticed it was bandaged. He didn't find that comforting.

"Russia!" he yelled towards the door, surprised by how dry his throat sounded. "Russia!" He let himself fall back onto the ground with another shiver, his arm already asleep. He leaned forward, letting his chest and face press against the stone. It wasn't as painful as lying on his arm, but it still wasn't comfortable. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, exhaling slowly with another shiver. He jumped, hearing footsteps outside the door. They were too light to be Russia's. He relaxed slightly, annoyed that the idea of Russia would make him so nervous. He looked up to see Lithuania open the door and walk inside, the front of his shirt bloody. He wasn't wearing his coat. Prussia looked away.

"It's not mine," Lithuania sighed, "It's Hungary's."

Prussia looked back up at him, closing his eyes, shaking his head in frustration, "What-"

"She tried to defend you," Lithuania walked in and sat across from Prussia, leaning against the wall, "She'll be fine. It looks worse than it is."

Prussia looked up at him, trying to lean up on his elbow again.

"Don't hurt yourself," Lithuania shook his head.

"Help me sit up then." Prussia struggled.

"With how angry Russia is at you? I'm not an idiot," Lithuania shook his head again.

Prussia rolled his eyes, letting himself fall back onto his shoulder again. "Why are you here?"

"Because after Hungary defended you, I defended her."

Prussia sighed, "And?" he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"And so, for the next 48 hours, I get to wake you up every hour. Which of course means neither of us gets to sleep."

"I'm sorry, Liet."

"Don't be, I knew what I was getting into when I stopped him."

"I'm still sorry."

"Save your apologies for Russia. Maybe he'll go easy on you." Lithuania leaned back against the stone. Prussia caught him wince.

"He hurt you didn't he?"

"It's from…before you left for Berlin."

"You're a bad liar." Prussia shook his head.

Toris sighed deeply, "So I've been told."

"What happened?"

"When I was trying to stop Russia from hurting Hungary he pushed me down. I hit my shoulder on the edge of some table. It's not a big deal, just a bruise." He shrugged.

Prussia nodded. He wasn't sure if he believed that it was just a bruise, but Lithuania didn't sound injured.

There was a long pause, before Prussia spoke again, "Liet?"

"Yes?" Toris looked at him, pity in his face.

"How…" He sighed, "What do I do to-" He shook his head, unsure how to ask what he needed to, "What's Russia going to do to me?" He was more terrified than he would admit.

Toris sighed deeply, "I don't know… but I haven't seen him this angry in a long time, not since… never mind when."

Prussia nodded slowly. He wouldn't push it. "So, no sleep for the next 48 hours?"

Lithuania shook his head, "No sleep."

Prussia shivered in the cold again, he'd gone longer than that without sleep before. It was an annoying prospect, but he wasn't afraid of it. He sighed again, closing his eyes, then opening them to look up at Lithuania. "So, are we going to exchange war stories or…?"

Toris laughed a little, "Yeah, that sounds like a great trip down memory lane."

"What?" Prussia smirked, "It'll keep us awake."

Lithuania shrugged, "As long as you don't have any acorns this time."

"Hey!" Prussia almost snapped, rolling his eyes. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you?"

"You're the one who suggested we tell each other war stories." Lithuania smiled.

"Yeah well, maybe that's a bad idea."

"I told you."

"Shut up, Toris." Prussia shook his head with a smirk.

Lithuania shrugged again.

There was another long pause. Prussia looked down, trying to hide the emotion in his voice, "Are you sure Hungary is ok?"

Lithuania nodded, "Yes. I bandaged her myself."

"What did... what did he do to her?"

"Do you really want me to tell you that? She's all right, I promise."

Prussia kept his eyes down, he wasn't sure he wanted to know, "Yes. Please, I need to know."

Toris sighed deeply, "When Russia brought you back from Berlin you were unconscious. He kicked you inside… that's probably where those bruises are from," he nodded to the dark purple marks on Prussia's white skin, "She ran up to you and told Russia off. He took out his pipe and…"

Prussia closed his eyes hard, shivering in pain and disgust. "W-what did he…"

"Just a few hits, nothing bad. That faucet is the worst of it, it broke some skin on her arms, but like I said, she's all right."

Prussia sighed, relieved. Hungary was tough. She could take a few hits. He wasn't worried about her. He smiled a little to think that she would defend him against an angry Russia.

"Feel better?" Toris asked kindly.

Prussia nodded, "Yeah." Apart from his arm going numb, his chest freezing against the stone, and the cold metal handcuffs digging into his bare wrists. "So, 48 hours."

Lithuania stood, "Yeah, I should go." He walked to the door and opened it. "I'm not allowed to come and talk to you. I just have to bang on the door. I'm sorry," he said, turning back to look at Prussia for a moment. "You should give in, Gil. Maybe if you're lucky, if you're really… really lucky, he'll go easy on you."

Prussia didn't look at him, "Did it work for you?" he whispered. There was a long pause before he heard the door shut. He closed his eyes.

Hour 5

Gil sighed, hearing Lithuania's fifth knock on the door. "I'm awake," he responded. "How are you doing?" he didn't expect an answer. He sighed. No reply. He rolled his eyes. He was incredibly bored. He'd already gone through all the history of his Templar days in his mind. He shifted against his bonds, trying to get more comfortable, despite knowing it wasn't going to happen. He closed his eyes with a sigh. It wasn't so bad so far. He could handle this.

Hour 10

Gil jumped awake as he heard Lithuania bang on the door. He sighed. He'd been drifting off to sleep between interruptions, but it wasn't deep sleep. The cold of the stone under him was distracting. It felt like ice on his bare skin. His shoulders were starting to burn. He rolled onto his back, laying his hands flat on the floor. It wasn't comfortable, and he knew he wouldn't be able to doze off, but the pressure on his shoulders was relieved a little. His slowly healing broken hand throbbed under his lower back. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain.

Hour 20

Gil shook against the freezing air. The room felt colder, the shivering harder to stop. He was hungry, and thirsty, his lips cracking in the cold air. He jumped with a gasp as he heard Lithuania knock on the door again. He was lying on his side again, and his shoulders were stiff. He closed his eyes, then opened them again. He swallowed hard. He shook his head.

You've gone without sleep for almost a week before. Stop complaining. He tried to force himself to regain control of his own mind. But you were fighting then. You weren't completely alone.

He shook his head again, slamming it once against the stone, trying to snap himself into reality.

Hour 30

Gil winced, he heard Russia's footsteps outside the door. He gasped, hearing the banging on the door again. It was Lithuania's, not Russia's steps he'd heard.

Stop it. He tried to tell himself, Calm down… He tried to breathe deeply, but he couldn't. The air was freezing now. He could barely move. He could feel his wrists rubbed raw from the metal cuffs around them. He'd given up adjusting his position to relieve his shoulders. They were completely numb. It was better than having them burn. He closed his eyes.

Young Ludwig ran up to him, jumping into his arms, "Bruder!" he laughed, "You're home!"

Gilbert spun him around pulling him into a hug, "Of course I am!" He kissed the little boy on his forehead, "Were you good while I was gone?"

"Yes! I got a new dog!"

"W-… You what?" Gil set him down, shocked.

"I found him. He was on the road and he was crying, and I don't like it when things cry, so I took him back here, and he's really nice, and I like him, and can I keep him big bruder, can I keep him, I'll make sure he's trained really well and-"

"Slow down, slow down." Gil laughed, "Let me see him."

Ludwig's eyes lit up and he ran back to get the tiny white puppy. He was adorable. The dog was cute too. Gilbert smiled, "What's his name?"

"Gil!"

"Really?" He smirked, amused.

"He has white hair, like you!"

Gilbert smiled, reaching forward to pet the puppy, who's started wiggling in Ludwig's arms, it's tail wagging so fast it was a fluffy white blur.

"So…can I keep him!?" Ludwig looked up into his brother's face with his giant blue eyes. They were convincing.

"Well…"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeese?"

Gilbert laughed, "All right, fine. But you're the one who's going to have to train him."

"Oh, I've already started! Look!" He set the puppy down and held up a finger-gun. He aimed it at the dog, "Bang!"

The dog rolled over.

"No…." Ludwig looked disappointed.

Gilbert laughed again, "Keep working on it." He ruffled his little brother's hair, "You'll get him in fighting shape in no time."

"So I can keep him? For sure?"

Gil nodded. "For sure."

"YAY!" Ludwig jumped into Gilbert's arms, burying his face against his brother's shoulder. "I'm really glad you're home…" he whispered, kissing Gilbert's cheek.

"Me too," Gil smiled, kissing his little brother's forehead and hugging him tighter. He set the small boy down, and turned around, kneeling. "Get on!"

"YAY!" Ludwig laughed, jumping on his brother's back, aiming an invisible sword towards the door of their house. "CHARGE!"

Sobs overtook Prussia's body and he let them. He'd cried before, but not like this. Deep, gasping sobs escaped his chapped lips, the tears stinging them. He looked up, silently begging God to listen to him. He shook his head, looking down, pressing his cheek, now hot with tears, into the freezing stone. He didn't care if Lithuania could hear him crying as he knocked on the door. He didn't care if Russia came in and tried to beat the tears away. He couldn't, and wouldn't hold them back anymore. He just wanted it to be over. Russia could kill him. He didn't care. He didn't care anymore.

Hour 48

Prussia jumped again, his mind playing tricks on him. He closed his eyes. He was incredibly hungry, his throat begging him for water. He was exhausted, freezing, and the pain in his shoulders was agonizing. He breathed hard through dry lips. His throat burned with every breath, the cold air searing through his lungs. He closed his eyes, trying to drift into sleep finally. Finally the gift of sleep. He froze, hearing a heavy boot-step coming towards the door, then turn away. He closed his eyes, trying to listen, trying to make sure the footsteps were really going away. They came back. He struggled at the cuffs on his wrists, letting them dig into his broken skin. He heard the lock on the door being opened, slowly. The sound bored into his mind. He froze, breathing as hard as his aching lungs would let him as the door opened. He turned, looking up at Russia's smiling face.

"Well? How are you, GDR?"

Prussia shivered with cold again, the draft from the door sending the chill all the way down his spine. He didn't reply.

"You're shivering. Are you cold?" Russia closed the door and took another step towards Prussia.

"What do you think?" Prussia was still shaking. He wasn't sure if it was the cold, or fear. He tried to tell himself it was the cold.

He heard Russia sigh and watched as the giant black boots stepped closer to him. He forced himself not to move away from them. Russia knelt, touching his hair patronizingly. He resisted the urge to bite and Russia's hand like a dog. He closed his eyes. Russia's hand was warm.

"Your skin is so cold, GDR…" Russia almost sounded surprised.

Prussia didn't respond.

"Would you like me to give you some water?" Russia's voice wasn't quite kind, but it wasn't angry.

Prussia turned to look at him, nodding. He didn't care if he looked weak, he needed water. He watched as Russia took a canteen from his belt and held it to Prussia's bleeding lips. He took deep, desperate gulps of water, letting Russia support his head with his hand on his neck. Russia pulled the container away finally, closing the cap. Prussia laid his head back on the stone, panting, having cared more about water than breathing.

"W-what…" he tried to catch his breath, "What are you going to do to me?" He looked up at Russia.

"Oh, Ptitska…" Russia pet his hair again.

Gil tried to pull away as Russia leaned down, closer to his face, threateningly.

"You tried to escape your cage…" Russia's voice almost sounded sad, "So, I have to break your wings."

A/N: Sleep deprivation, and food/water deprivation, were two of the most common tortures employed by the SU, right along with Solitary Confinement. Prussia's tough, but he would be lying if he said it was easy for him. Also some baby Germany! (he's so cute... I can't even...) then... *crushes heart*. Prussia hadn't actually let himself sob yet, and with the lack of sleep and food, and cold... just himself alone with his thoughts... I thought it made sense for this to be the time. Things aren't looking good for Prussia.

As always, reviews are deeply appreciated! So far, I've been able to upload a chapter-a-day! I'm hoping this can continue! I'm having waaaaaay too much fun writing this! I hope you are all enjoying reading it! See you all next chapter!