Chapter 73

"You asked to see m-" Gil froze as he looked in Russia's office. A cold chill went down his spine. He pulled his hands behind his back, shaking so hard he had to force himself to stand. He looked right into the icy grey eyes of the man sitting across from Russia at the desk. The man smiled, standing and walking towards Gil.

Gil tried to steady his breathing, pleading with his body to stop shaking. He forced himself to look up into General Winter's face. He winced, grabbing the doorframe to steady himself as the man reached towards his face. He shook his head, looking up at Russia, terrified.

"Please…" He cried out, clutching at General Winter's wrist as the giant grabbed his face, turning it towards him, kicking him to his knees.

"Russia's been telling me all about how rebellious you've been…I can't have that. You're supposed to be helping him make the USSR stronger… isn't that right, GDR?"

Gil didn't answer, trying to claw General Winter's hand away from his face, struggling to stand as the giant kept him down.

General Winter threw him to the ground, stepping towards Russia again, grabbing the tall country's wrist and pulling him forward, letting go, kicking him down.

"Both of you, get up!" General Winter ordered.

Russia stood instantly, looking up at General Winter.

Gil dragged himself to his feet, glancing over at Russia. He didn't like how much fear he saw in the man's eyes. He looked back at General Winter.

"Now, we're going to go downstairs, and I'm going to teach you both a lesson, is that clear?"

"Da," Russia said without hesitation, taking off his coat and setting it aside, returning to stand at attention in front of General Winter.

Gil watched Russia, trembling still as he looked back at the giant man in front of him. "I… yes, sir…" he whispered, his voice shaking badly.

"I will allow you both to walk downstairs as long as you give me no trouble. I'm not opposed to dragging you if I have to."

Gil nodded, seeing Russia do the same. They both turned towards the door. He looked at the back of Russia's head as he walked between him and General Winter. Russia was in trouble too? General Winter wouldn't hurt him, not badly, there was no way… was there? He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want General Winter there. Anything else he would have gladly endured, but not General Winter. The world seemed to move in slow motion as they walked down the long halls. They passed the Baltics, who all looked away, just as terrified of General Winter as the rest of the house. Slowly they defended the grand staircase to the main floor. Gil felt sick. It felt like they were both being paraded before the house, passing every room from where the others could see them. They stopped at the kitchen. Gil looked at the giant closed door across from the kitchen's welcoming, open wood frame. He tried to steady his breathing. He could do this. He could survive this. He'd survived General Winter before, many times. He turned to the kitchen to meet Hungary's eyes as she stared at him. He saw her hands shaking as they balled into fists. She wasn't afraid. She was angry. He watched as her eyes moved from him to the giant behind him, meeting his ice-cold eyes.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Hungary snapped, grabbing a frying pan from the hooks on the wall.

"I'm going to teach them. Make them stronger. That's I do. I make things strong, and I kill things that are weak. You don't want me to think these two are weak, do you?"

Hungary swore, rushing towards General Winter, swinging her frying pan at his face.

General Winter's head snapped to the side as the frying pan collided with his cheek. He laughed, turning back to Hungary and grabbing her wrists, pulling her up by her arms until her legs kicked frantically in the air. She dropped the pan, trying to throw it towards his head. It clattered to the ground.

"Let. Go!" She snarled, trying to kick for his belt and just below it.

"Fine," he smiled, slamming her to the ground.

Gil knelt next to her immediately, putting his hand on her shoulder, touching her head gently. She didn't move, "Liz, please…"

Slowly, she opened her eyes, lifting her head. She turned to General Winter immediately, "How's this for strong!?" She pulled herself up and kicked him between the legs, elbowing him hard on the stomach.

The giant winced, but barely. He grabbed both of her wrists again and smashed her body against the wall, lifting her up off the ground, avoiding her kicks.

"I'm impressed," he grinned nodding to her, laughing as she tried again to kick him, "But you are in my way." He brought his hand to her stomach for a moment and she screamed. He let go, dropping her on the ground.

"Liz!" Gil ran to her again, kneeling beside her. He looked down at her hand as it clutched her stomach where General Winter had touched her. He could see ice through her fingers. He moved her hand carefully and closed his eyes, shaking his head. Ice, tiny shards of ice, were poking up through the fabric of her dress, buried in her skin.

"It… doesn't hurt…" she lied, "I'll be fine… don't do anything stupid…"

"Like what you just tried?" he whispered, trying to pull one of the spikes from the wounds. He stopped as she screamed again.

She nodded, "Yeah, like that!" she pushed his hand away, grabbing her stomach, looking up at General Winter. "What did you-"

"Don't worry, it'll feel better once it melts" General Winter smiled coldly, "Which will take a few hours. You'd better stay on the ground. Don't EVER get in my way again, da?"

Hungary nodded, shivering. Her body was cold, freezing, the horrible feeling spreading from her stomach up to her chest. She shook her head, trying to ignore the pain.

"You'll pay for this, Winter!" Prussia stood to face General Winter, "Don't you DARE touch her again!" He slammed his fist into the giant's face as hard as he could, splitting his knuckles. He didn't care, satisfied to see a dark red gash dripping on the man's cheek. He gasped suddenly, forced to his knees as General Winter grabbed his hair, kicking his legs out from under him.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that…"

"General, please!" Russia stepped between Winter and Prussia. "We should just go downstairs… we can deal with him there…"

"'We'? I believe I'm dealing with you too, Russia," General Winter opened the door to the stairs and dragged Prussia them. He threw him down by his hair and turned to Russia. "Your turn." He pushed him hard, watching with satisfaction as Russia's body tumbled down the stone steps and didn't move at the bottom. He looked back at Hungary as she grabbed the leg of his pants.

"Don't. Touch. Them." She looked up at him, her eyes piercing with hatred.

He kicked her away, the steel toe of his boot hitting her chin. She released the fabric in her hand immediately and didn't move, her split chin bleeding heavily. General Winter rolled his eyes, looking away. He closed the door behind him as he walked down the stairs. He grabbed both Russia and Prussia by their hair and dragged them towards the giant black door.

Prussia struggled, trying to pry General Winter's hands off of him, trying to break free, to kick his way to standing, to make it difficult to drag him anywhere if nothing else. He stayed down as General Winter threw him into the room. Russia was next to him seconds later. The blonde country didn't move, turning to look up at General Winter. Gil shivered. Russia looked terrified. He gasped again as General Winter pulled him up to his knees, grabbing his shirt and ripping it open, then throwing him back to the ground, hard. He struggled, his fingers grasping for the stone floor as General Winter dragged him down a few feet and forced him onto his back, pinning him down, kneeling on his legs so he could kick.

"Struggle, and I make this worse. Let's begin the lesson…" General Winter smiled, pulling out the same sharp blade that Prussia was too used too, and terrified of.

Prussia struggled, trying to kick General Winter off of him, trying to grab him and toss him off, trying to grab his throat, trying to do something, anything to keep that knife away from his chest.

"Russia, get over here, make yourself useful for a change," General Winter snapped, nodding the tall country over.

"No!" Prussia struggled harder, trying to roll onto his side, trying to get away. "Please, please, don't!" he shook his head, fixing his eyes on the blade which glittered in the dim light. He felt Russia's hands on his wrists. He looked up, trying to see Russia's face. He couldn't be happy about this. He couldn't want this. "Russland bitte!" he screamed, watching Russia close his eyes and turn his face away. He gasped as he felt the knife against his cheek. He turned to look up at General Winter again.

"Don't struggle, it makes it worse," General Winter whispered, bringing his face close enough to Prussia's to make him shiver.

Gil closed his eyes, shaking his head. He winced, shaking as he felt the cold tip of the knife press against his chest.

"You know how this works. Don't scream."

Gil set his jaw, clenching his fists as tightly as he could, his nails digging into his palms. He didn't care. He closed his eyes tighter as the blade started to press into his skin. He screamed.

…

Gil didn't move, looking up at the black stone ceiling. He heard the door close in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes. He didn't want to look down at his bleeding chest. He felt numb, cold. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to look over at Russia, whose breath was heavy with pain. He opened his eyes again, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

"G-Gil?"

Gil didn't respond. He had nothing to say to Russia.

"Gil, please…" Russia whispered, dragging himself towards the white-haired country with a faint gasp of pain.

Gil turned to look at Russia, closing his eyes with a sigh. He didn't want to pity him, but it was impossible not to. Russia's body, bared to the waist, was covered in bruises and blood. General Winter had used the pipe. Gil set his jaw, "Now you know what it feels like," he turned away.

Russia laughed.

Gil turned to look at him again, confused.

"'Now'?" Russia laughed darkly, "'Now' I 'know what it feels like'?" Russia shook his head, trying to stop the laughter that kept rising into his chest. It was better than tears. He would rather laughter than tears.

Gil said nothing, waiting for Russia to continue.

"You really think you're 'used to' my lessons don't you!?" Russia almost snapped, shaking his head.

No answer.

"You think you know all about me, but you have no idea!" Russia shook his head again, forcing down the catch in his voice.

"I know enough to hate you."

"I don't care. Everyone does. I'm used to that."

"Then why are you trying to earn my pity?"

"I don't want your pity!" Russia snapped, wincing hard, grabbing the deep wound in his own chest, "I want you to know why I want you to be stronger, you and the others! I need you to be stronger!"

"You're not even strong, not according to him," Gil nodded towards the door.

"I've never been strong enough for him…" Russia shook his head.

"How long has he been-"

"As long as I can remember, Gil. That ma-" Russia stopped himself, "That monster… he raised me. He raised me, Gil. He taught me everything I know. The things he did to me… You of all people should understand."

"Understand what?" Gil snapped, his body aching with every breath, "Understand that you're a psychopath and I hate you!?"

"Understand what it's like to be willing to endure ANYTHING to protect your family."

Gil turned away, "You have no idea what you're-"

"Oh yes, I do!" Russia cut him off, "I know very well! Do you know what it was like to have him as a father!? To have my Tzars and Tzarinas? Do you think they were kind to me!? While you had your Frederick the Great, I had Peter and Catherine…" Russia's voice broke. He tried to pass it off as pain, "And what do you think they did to me?"

"Don't try that. Half the world knows you were Catherine's lover!" Prussia looked away.

"I never said I wasn't… but she…" Russia closed his eyes, shaking his head, "She's wasn't a kind woman. She traded my people to nobles for their loyalty… she was… she didn't… she didn't care if she hurt me, yet she said Russia was the most important thing to her… but the most important thing to Catherine was herself… she lets General Winter hurt me… and he did. We made a deal that he could do whatever he wanted to me… to make me 'stronger' as long he left my sisters alone I would never fight him… that deal still stands…. You should be able to understand that much," Russia snapped, "I know how much you care about your brother."

"Then let me see him!" Prussia turned to look at Russia again, "Don't you DARE talk about my brother. Not after what you've done."

"What you've done."

"NEIN!" Prussia shook his head, turning a cold glare to Russia. He was too weak to move. He wanted to at least punch him. "It was me or him, and I wasn't going to let you have my brother."

"Then you do understand," Russia turned away again, collapsing onto the floor, his arms giving way. They refused to support his weight anymore.

Prussia said nothing. He did understand. He didn't want Russia to know he cared.

"You and I… we're very much alike, Gil…" Russia whispered, his voice weak.

"I am NOTHING like you!" Prussia said as loud as he could, his voice betraying more pain than he wanted it to.

"Father seems to think so?"

Prussia felt sick. "F-Father…?"

Russia smiled sadly, though Prussia wasn't looking, "Winter. General Winter…"

"You just said he-"

"Yes. But in the end, he's always been there. He always comes back… I've gotten stronger… he's a good General. He's defeated almost everyone that's attacked me. You would know…"

Prussia ignored the insult, keeping his face away from Russia.

"You said you hate me…"

"Because I do."

"Go ahead. Hate me. It's less confusing than anything else. Hatred isn't confusing. Hatred is easy."

Prussia set his jaw. He nodded. Hatred was easy. He wanted to hate Russia with everything he was. He tried to force himself not to care about Russia's story, not to care about the 'man' who raised him, his 'father'. He pushed the words aside. He hated Russia, and that wasn't going to change.

A/N: Oh, look! I'm not dead! XD Here we go! Another chapter! So... as I think I mentioned, I was having a bit of trouble figuring out more plot... so... General Winter shows up to add more plot! Also some stuff about Russia's past. Poor kid. Russia's VERY sane in this chapter, and we get to see a side of him that he likes to hide. Maybe this will change how Prussia acts around him? Maybe...? But anyway, having General Winter in the house is scary.

Historical note: Peter I and Catherine II did both reign during the same span of years that Prussia's Frederick the Great did. His reign was VERY long actually (1712-1786 I believe...?) So yeah. Catherine the Great was almost famous for taking many noble lovers, and she was obsessed with making Russia all things Russian. She used Western influence to 'moderinize' the country, but all with a Russian twist. Also, there were still serfs at the time. She would give them away to her loves and nobles to keep their loyalty, especially with all the revolutions the serfs started durring her reign. (shocking, considering they were being traded, don't you think?) She wasn't the greatest woman in history... there are a lot worse, but she's not really that 'great'... (bad pun. I'm sorry.)

Thank you so much to all reviewers, old and new! I LOVE reading your reviews and I can't wait to read the new ones! I really do love reading them. Keep them coming! :D Cookies and hugs and lemonaide to all!