A/N: A pre-warning for this one. Graphic descriptions of violence ahead.

Chapter 32

Gil opened his eyes, groaning in pain, the pressure in his legs almost unbearable and shoulder still burned, but the worst pain was shooting through and around his wrists. He looked down at his arms as they lay on his stomach. His wrists were wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. He tried to move his fingers, unsure he could. They moved, but he couldn't feel them tap back onto the blanket. He sighed. It would be a while before his hands would be functional again.

He shivered with cold, suddenly noticing he wasn't wearing a shirt. He gasped, instantly looking to the crooks of his arms. The needle marks were hidden by bandages. He sighed in relief.

He could feel another cloth over his shoulder, wrapped around his chest, covering the re-opened scar in his back. He winced suddenly noticing a cold sting on his legs. He strained to look down at them. They were covered in ice packs. He reached up to touch his neck. It was bruised. He winced.

Gil jumped suddenly, turning towards the door, trying to pull himself up onto his elbows and cried out in pain. He couldn't move his legs. He looked to the door again as it opened. Estonia walked in, carrying a bag of fresh medical supplies. Gil relaxed, letting himself lay back onto the bed. He touched his neck again. He could feel the bruises from the inside of his neck, but nothing with his fingers. It was a strange sensation, and he didn't particularly like it. He watched Estonia walk to the bed and sit in the chair beside it. The quiet country sighed, opening the medical bag and setting it on the bedside table. He slipped on a pair of gloves, and took one of Gil's arms, starting to unwrap the bloody bandages at his wrists.

Gil wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to Estonia. The country barely spoke, so having a two-sided conversation was nearly impossible. He winced as the bandage stuck to his wrist. He wasn't sure he wanted to look at the damage the handcuffs had caused. He turned to watch Estonia work. The blond country sighed, grabbing a cloth from the bag, and walking into the bathroom to wet it. Gil turned away, inhaling sharply as Estonia pressed the wet cloth against the gauze bandage. He looked back to see Estonia peel the cloth and bandage from his wrist. He bit his lip, looking at the injury. His wrists were stitched almost all the way around. He looked up at Estonia, concerned. Hoping he would explain.

"Those handcuffs nearly degloved your wrists," Estonia shook his head, irritated, "Next time ask him to loosen them."

"I did," Gil winced at the sound of his own voice. It was dry, choked, and barely audible. His throat burned as he spoke. He coughed hard, falling back onto the bed.

"Next time ask nicely," Estonia rolled his eyes.

Gil turned to look at his wrists again.

"I tried to be careful," Estonia explained, "It shouldn't scar. You'll heal quickly anyway." He pushed his glasses up with his wrist, as he continued to inspect his work on Gil's wrist. He started to wrap a new bandage around it.

Gil sighed, looking back up at the ceiling. He let Estonia take his other wrist, repeating the same process of wetting the old bandage and removing it, then replacing it with a new one.

"Are your hands still numb?"

Gil nodded. He looked down at the bandages around his elbows. "Did you…?" he whispered.

"See your arms? Yes," Estonia sighed, "And I gave you more. Toris said you take two syringes, so that's what I gave you," he said disapprovingly, "You were barely hanging on before you got it. How often are you taking it?"

Gil bit his lip, looking away.

"Every day?" Estonia barely phrased it as a question.

Gil nodded.

"I'll give you another dose tomorrow then."

"You're… helping me…?" Gil managed to choke, whispering. His voice refused to work. Russia's hand had done more damage than he'd originally thought.

"We've all tried stupid coping mechanisms, Gil. Just because yours is particularly idiotic doesn't mean I want you to suffer for it."

Gil looked back at Estonia gratefully, "Toris wasn't as…" He stopped suddenly, noticing Estonia's expression change when he said the country's name. It hit him how strange it was that Estonia was there just to change bandages. He would have been needed to stitch his wrists, but he never actually changed the bandages. It was always Lithuania. Never once had it been Estonia, never once. He looked into Estonia's face, worried. He tried to steady his voice enough to speak, "Ed…where…is…Liet?"

Estonia looked down, then back up at Gil with a sigh, "With Russia." He looked down again.

"How long?" Gil whispered, sitting up on his elbows. It sent shooting pain into his arm, but he didn't care.

Estonia shook his head, "Hours…"

"How… long have I…?" He couldn't choke out the words. His throat burned. Speaking felt like swallowing sand.

"You've been out for almost a day." Estonia sighed, taking off the gloves and throwing them in the trash next to the bed. He started to zip up the medical bag.

Gil grabbed Estonia's wrist, looking up at him, his eyes pleading for more information. Anything Estonia knew.

Estonia sighed again, then turned back to Gil. "You were out cold, Russia carried you up here and sent me to deal with the mess. He locked himself in his room for an hour or so, before he…" Estonia swallowed hard. He tried not to care what Russia did, tried to stay out of the way, but he wasn't happy about any of it. "Russia grabbed Lithuania and took him downstairs. They've been down there almost the whole day…"

"And?" Gil whispered through grit teeth. He was going to kill Russia.

"The screaming stopped almost five hours ago, but Russia hasn't… he hasn't come back yet," Estonia tried to hide the fear in his voice.

Gil swore under his breath and tried to push the covers and ice off his legs. He couldn't move. "Help me," He looked up at Estonia.

"Gil, you can't stand yet…"

Gil glared at him, shaking his head, "I don't care…" He forced his voice to be loud enough to be understood. His throat screamed at him. He ignored it.

Estonia sighed, putting his arm around Gil's back, helping him stand.

Gil's legs gave way. He fell to the ground as Estonia lost his grip. He looked up at the blond country weakly. He felt sick, lightheaded, and his legs burned.

Estonia helped him up again, carefully.

Gil forced his legs to hold his weight, his will power winning over the pain. He let Estonia drag him towards a chair, where he sat, motioning towards his boots.

Estonia grabbed them and brought them to him.

Gil tried to grip them, but his numb fingers barely worked.

Estonia looked up at him, almost pleading for him to stop.

"Help?" Gil nodded to the boots.

Estonia sighed, tugging them onto Gil's legs. He loosened the laces to make room for the swollen ankles and calfs of Gil's limbs. The ice had helped, but not enough. There was a reason forcing someone to stand for hours was one of Russia's favorites.

Gil nodded his thanks and put his arm around Estonia's shoulders, standing again with help. He stepped forward carefully, leaning heavily on Estonia. He was too angry to care how much walking hurt. He caught himself on the wall and opened the door. He limped into the hall, leaning against the wall, trying to just keep stepping forward. He didn't know how he was going to get down the stairs, but he would, that much he did know. He leaned against the railing, forcing one foot in front of the other. Once at the bottom he forced himself to walk again, unable to find something to support him. He fell forward, catching himself, crying out in pain as the weight pulled at the wounds on his wrists. He tried to stand, dragging himself to the wall. He looked around. No one was there to help him. He set his jaw and forced himself to his feet, leaning against the wall, panting for a moment. He didn't know what his plan was once he got downstairs. Stop Russia? There was no way he could do that. Not like this. Distract Russia? Maybe he could manage that. He looked down the hallway and pulled himself forward, still leaning against the wall. His legs burned. He was able to keep them moving on will power alone, but he knew eventually even that wouldn't be enough. He caught the handle of the door to the basement. He glance into the kitchen. No one was inside. He glanced at the clock. It was nearly 3 in the morning. He sighed. At least everyone else would be asleep. He wouldn't have to deal with any of them trying to stop him. He opened the door which lead down the dark staircase. He stepped forward and missed. His body crashed into the steps. He tried protect his head as he rolled down the stone, crying out in pain. He breathed hard as he reached the bottom, trying not to move. Everything hurt. He groaned. His back stung where the stairs had torn the bandages off the wound. His arms were cut and bleeding, as were his sides, back, and chest. His arms had done their job and protected his head for the most part, though he could feel a few stinging marks. He dragged himself forwards towards the black door where he guessed Russia would be. He looked down, trying to catch his breath, closing his eyes. He heard the door open and looked up, terrified. Russia smiled down at him, grabbing his hair and pulling him up to his knees.

"Haven't you had enough?" Russia threw him to the side, letting Gil's head hit the stone.

Gil winced but didn't cry out. He glared up at Russia, who continued to walk towards the stairs, ignoring Gil.

"Russia!" he choked. He tried to sound angry, but his voice was too choked.

Russia turned, walking back towards him, "Oh!" he grinned, that sickeningly childlike grin without a hint of innocence to it, "You're here to see what you did to Myshka, aren't you?"

"What you did!" Gil spat back, the rage he was too weak to act on rising to his chest.

Russia shook his head, "Nyet. Really, he did it to himself. He shouldn't have told you about… my secrets. They aren't his to share. He needs to learn that. It's very important that he learns this, da?"

Gil stared up at him, horrified. He looked down at Russia's coat. There was blood on it. He shuddered. Russia always took it off before hurting them. If there was enough blood to actually get on the coat… he glared up at Russia, clenching his numb hands into fists. He smirked. His hands were numb. He forced himself to his feet, barely able to stand.

Russia smiled, impressed, "You really hate me that much?" He looked down at Gil's shaking legs, noticing he leaned against the wall.

"Ja," Gil snapped, bringing his left fist to Russia's face with as much force as he could get. His knuckles split, but so did Russia's cheek. He looked down at his hand. It didn't hurt. The one advantage to his hands being numb.

Russia brought his hand to his face, pulling it away and seeing the blood. He looked back at Gil with ice in his eyes. He grabbed Gil's hair and pulled him forward hard, sending the white-haired country instantly to the ground. He pressed his boot into Gil's back, keeping him down. He leaned down and grabbed the white hair, dragging Gil forward without another word.

Gil tried to struggle, but he wasn't strong enough. He grabbed Russia's hand on his hair, trying to force him to let go. It was useless. He fought harder as Russia dragged him to the black door and turned the handle. He shuddered. Russia hadn't even bothered to lock the door.

Russia opened the giant black slab slowly, shoving Gil forward onto the stone floor, "I'll deal with you tomorrow. For now, you can stay in here with what's left of Toris," He snarled, slamming the door behind him.

Gil heard the key turn in the lock. He winced. He hadn't turned from the door. He was afraid of what he would see. He glanced to the left of the door as he saw the chair out of the corner of his eyes. Thrown against it was a bloody whip and the barbed-wire Russia had brought into the room with him earlier. Gil bit his lip, closing his eyes. The barbed-wire was blood-soaked, and he could see pieces of skin still caught on the spikes. He tried not to imagine how Russia must have used it. He turned slowly, his eyes still closed. He could smell the blood. He opened his eyes and shuddered. He brought his hand to his mouth, too shocked to even try to speak.

Lithuania wasn't even tied to the wall. He lay on his back on the stone, a pool of blood around him. He'd been stripped to his shorts, and Gil saw his uniform lying in a pile in the corner. The man's body was covered in blood and bruises, and his dark green eyes were open and turned towards the door, but he made no acknowledgment of Gil. He wasn't moving.

Gil dragged himself closer to him, gasping again as his arms splashed into something on the ground. More blood. He looked away, not caring if he was covered in it. He leaned on his elbow as he reached Lithuania. He pushed his dark hair, which was soaking in sweat and blood, out of his face. He sighed, relieved as he saw Lithuania breathing. He looked down at the man's body, closing his eyes for a moment, before opening them again. He could see the red marks from a whip over Lithuania's shoulders, and he knew his back was covered in them. Across his arms and stomach were other marks, deeper, more jagged. Gil shuddered. He knew of only one thing made wounds like that: barbed-wire. He winced, just thinking about it turned his stomach. Dark purple bruises covered the dark-haired country's entire body, the clearly identified wounds from the faucet of Russia's pipe still bled, dripping down the man's stomach and sides. Both of Lithuania's legs were crushed and bleeding from the pipe crashing against them. His wrists were rubbed raw from either handcuffs or rope; they were so torn Gil couldn't tell what had caused the injuries.

Gil looked back up to Lithuania's face. It held a dark purple and red bruise in the shape of Russia's hand but was mostly untouched. He wanted to feel relieved, but the damage to the rest of Lithuania's body didn't let him.

"T-Toris?" he managed to choke. He touched Lithuania's hair, trying to be something like comforting. He still couldn't feel his hands. He wasn't sure if Lithuania was even conscious, but he doubted it. Unless Russia was extra careful. Sometimes he left them awake. He wanted them to feel it.

Lithuania didn't respond.

"Liet?" Gil tried to lift Lithuania's face from the stone, turning it towards his own. He shivered again. Lithuania looked dead. He glanced down at the man's chest again, making sure he was breathing. He was. He was alive. Barely. "Liet?" he tried again, looking at the glassed over green eyes. He smiled, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw Lithuania's eyes focus and turn towards him. He bit his lip again as Lithuania frowned, closing his eyes, letting a soft groan of pain escape his lips.

"T-Toris?" he whispered again.

The dark green eyes opened again, focusing on Gil's face.

Gil shivered, taking his hand away from Lithuania's head. He'd never seen hate in Lithuania's eyes before.

"I'm so sorry…" he choked, shaking his head, looking down at Lithuania's broken body. It was his fault. It, just like everything else, was his fault. Another sin to add to the ever-growing list he couldn't keep up with.

Lithuania closed his eyes, tears slipping down the sides of his face into his hair, "Why…?" his voice was choked too, choked and dry. He could barely even whisper, groaning in pain again. He didn't open his eyes, "Why did you tell him… one secret… one secret I asked you to keep… and you promised…" He opened his eyes, letting them meet Gil's.

The pain in Lithuania's eyes was almost more than Gil could take.

"I wanted him to get angry…" he whispered. It hurt less.

"Good job…" Lithuania groaned again, closing his eyes tightly as pain shot through his whole body.

"At me," Gil shook his head, "I didn't want him to… I didn't think he'd…"

"He's not… stupid… he figured out… I told you…" Lithuania breathed hard, the effort it took to speak making him dizzy with pain.

"I'm so sorry… I'm so sorry…" Gil shook his head again, bringing his hand to his head, closing his eyes and opening them immediately. Too many memories.

Lithuania looked back up at Gil, his vision blurry and weak. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"So…" Gil sighed deeply, "Do you hate me yet?" he whispered. He didn't want this. He didn't want any of this.

Lithuania closed his eyes, more tears falling from them across his face, "I should… but…" he strained suddenly, trying to breathe, pain overwhelming him. He closed his eyes, letting himself slip into the temporary relief of unconsciousness.

"Liet?" Gil whispered, bringing his hand back to Lithuania's head, brushing his hair back from his face again. He sighed, seeing the country's chest still rising and falling weakly. He looked back at the door. He was going to kill Russia for this. If Belarus didn't get to him first.

A/N: Russia what have you done... *shudders* And Gil actually succeeded in getting Liet to hate him, at least for a little while. We all know Liet is way too forgiving and kind for his own good. And Gil feels so guilty that he literally dragged himself to Liet, not that he's actually much help right now. Ugh... this was brutal. We haven't seen Russia cause this much damage before, at least not this much physical damage. Gil managed to find the ONE THING that could make Russia get this angry. Russia feels betrayed... rightly so? (not that his reaction to the 'betrayal' is good. At all.) What do you think? But now Gil feels even more guilty. Another person he cares about (Lithuania is not-so-arguably his only actual friend in Russia's house after all...) that he's ended up being the cause of pain for. If Gil had just kept his mouth shut this wouldn't have happened. It is actually his fault. How long do you think it will take Lithuania to forgive him?

A medical note: "Degloving" is a very nasty injury where the skin is ripped up from muscle (and sometimes through it). My real-life job involves me looking at medical reference pictures quite regularly, but this particular one made even MY stomach turn. So please, I DO NOT recommend you look it up. Know that it's really, really bad, and really really really really really painful. Anyway, I told you what it is now, so you don't need to look it up. (Seriously though, not in a joking way, I really don't recommend looking it up, it is VERY disturbing)

Really no history in this chapter, just narrative. Though Soviet Russia was very. VERY cruel to prisoners, this wasn't Soviet torture. This was just a really, really bad beating. Most Soviet tortures were designed not to leave scars or marks. What Rusia did here, clearly, didn't have that thinking behind it. More scars for Liet... I would hug him but...

As always, reviews are so appreciated! 100 reviews! WOW! Thank you guys SO MUCH! It means SO SO SO SO SO MUCH to me that you guys love this story enough to review it! I will answer a few of your questions here. I wish I could reply to guests too! I always reply if you have an account and you write a review! Anyway:
Kattie: I am planning to continue this fic up through the wall's breaking down (see what I did there? ;) I'm smart y'all!) and though Gil's recovery once he's back with his brother! Also... thank you for the "Malteasers"... though I don't know what they are... perhaps they are only a UK thing?
MURICAN NINJA: I'm sorry for playing with your heart! I'm doing so because I'm a rather cruel author (though I love all the characters so much... so so SO much!) and DRAMA XD
Nameless Guest who keeps leaving all the comments including the 100TH COMMENT: Well first, thank you so much for all the reviews! Please continue to rant! I'm glad my story is so emotional for you! It means I'm doing my job! XD Yes, Russia did almost bring in General Winter to help break Gil, and yeah... Luddy's gonna be TICKED. Though it's more of the mental breaking that he's going to have to deal with than the physical side of things. But he's not going to be happy about that communist scar on his brother's back... but then again... he's had one of his own... just a different shape...though by this point in the story it's almost completely gone. Just a distant memory... though an important one. Also, I forgive you for the dead/old meme. XD

Thank you again to all the reviewers! Again, I appreciate it so much! Cookies and candy and hugs for all of you! (extra hugs after this chapter... my gosh what did I just write...)