Chapter 86

Gil walked through the familiar double doors, through the familiar lobby, up the familiar stairs, and into the familiar room. He slipped a tip, much higher than it should have been, into the boy's hands as he left his luggage inside the room.

He sighed slowly, looking up at the dusty tan walls, the only thing constantly the same in the room. The furniture was different, updated, more modern. There was a new television that he didn't intend to use, a new desk with a phone, a new table and chairs, and new electric blue curtains. He pushed them back from the window, looking down at the street below. His eyes followed the long black road that started to disappear as it ran away from the hotel, leading towards the edge of the city. He sighed, the thin dark line across the horizon closing the city from the outside world. He sighed again, turning away from the window and looking at the bed. He let himself fall onto it, swinging his legs up over the cover without bothering to take off his boots. He rolled to his side and brought the pillow over his face. He hated the room. He hated everything about the room. Everything about what had happened inside the room.

He sat up suddenly, staring down at the carpet. It had been replaced with a new color. He glanced at the space between the bed and the wall, wondering if the bloodstains from Cort's gunshots to his chest had made the re-carpeting decision an easier one.

He kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling as he lay back in bed, trying to think about nothing. Trying to get his mind to shut up about everything in general. His fingers twitched involuntarily. He sighed, glancing towards his suitcase, shaking his head. He could wait a few more hours. He had to. He didn't have much, and he was going to make it last. He looked back at the ceiling.

A very faint click hit his ears, and his hand was at his hip instantly, the gun raised towards the person standing in the doorway. He didn't look.

"Verzieh dich (very strong 'Get lost')," he snapped, still not looking. He expected to hear someone burring out of the room, but the person stepped closer, "I said: LEAVE."

"Not until I talk to you."

Gil sat up instantly, lowering his gun, "Schulz…" He stood, but kept his gun ready at his side.

"Hallo," Schulz said simply.

Gil stared into the man's face. He wasn't a boy anymore. Scrambled mental calculation brought him to almost 30. He looked older. He instantly noticed the civilian clothes: simple, unimpressive, and no color, just black or grey. The tiniest flicker of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he saw the military boots. He looked up into the dark, worn eyes again, forcing himself not to turn away.

"Hallo," Gil replied finally. It felt like more than seconds had passed.

Schulz said nothing.

Gil could almost feel the other man's eyes staring into his soul. He looked away. He didn't want him to see it. He watched as Schulz opened his suitcase, pulling the small leather case out of the familiar pocket in the side. Gil sat back on the bed, bringing his right hand to his forehead, sliding it down to pinch the bridge of his nose with a sigh. He caught the small case as it hit his shoulder. He looked up at Schulz again. The disappointment in his eyes stung.

"Say something…" Gil whispered, bringing his hand to his face again.

"Like. What?"

"I don't know, like why are you here? What do you want?" Gil looked up at him again, almost snapping the words.

"You almost got me killed, Gil!"

"You survived. Congratulations, most humans who stick around me don't last a week," Gil rolled his eyes, flopping back on the bed. He hadn't expected Schulz to reply to that and wasn't surprised when he didn't. He heard the other man cross the room and sit in the chair near the desk.

"Do you want me to apologize?" Gil broke the silence.

"I wouldn't expect it," the man's voice was heavy, sad. Gil didn't like it.

"Then why are you here?" Gil asked, looking up at him again.

Schulz sighed, not looking at the white-haired country, "I need your help."

"You what?" Gil sat up, staring at Schulz, "You want me to help you? After what… Believe it or not, I don't actually want to get you killed!"

Schulz shook his head, "It's not for me… it's for my brother."

Gil froze, "Your brother…?"

Schulz nodded, "My little brother… he's in trouble…"

"It must be a lot of trouble…" Gil's voice was quieter, trying to shake off the memories of Luddy crying from fear in the back of his mind.

Schulz nodded, "He… he was trying to dig under the wall."

Gil closed his eyes, sighing deeply, "How bad is it?"

"Bad…" Schulz said, still not looking at Gil, "He's been captured…"

Gil swore, bringing his hand to his head again, rubbing at the tension at the back of his neck.

"They shot two of the others with him, and a few got away. My brother's the only one they have."

"They're going to want names from him," Gil shook his head. It had to be Schulz brother. It had to be the life of someone close to someone he owed a life too. It had to be something he couldn't get out of.

"You told me you're the best interrogator in the GDR," Schulz looked at Gil for the first time since sitting down, "Can you get to him?"

"Sure. That's the easy part… I assume you want me to get him out?" Gil shook his head. Why wasn't he saying no? He couldn't get himself to say no.

"You owe me."

Gil rolled his eyes, standing. He didn't have an argument, so he didn't try and make one. He picked up the leather case from the floor and brought it towards his suitcase.

"If it was your brother… wouldn't you do anything you could to help him?"

Gil closed his eyes, images of his brother tied to a chair, a knife to his chest, and RAF's voice threatening him ringing in his mind.

"Ja. I would…" Gil didn't move, keeping his hands on the sides of the suitcase, looking down at the leather case.

"I'm not strong enough to help my brother, Gil. My lungs are wrecked. After what you…" he stopped himself, taking a deep, shaking breath, "After what happened. I can't run, Gil. I can't. I can barely walk for more than a few minutes. That's… that's why I had to leave. I'm useless to the military now. Honestly, I'm pretty useless in general… so… I… I can't get him out. I'll do whatever I have to, kill whoever I have to, but…"

"But you're going to need help…" Gil sighed deeply again. Heinrich's words stung. He'd had swords and bullets go through his lungs plenty of times, but he healed. He looked back at Heinrich, closing his eyes again. He couldn't look at him. He could still see him lying on the concrete floor, not answering, not looking at anything, his eyes glazed over.

"Gil…?"

Gil turned opened his eyes. He hadn't realized how long it had been since he'd spoken, "I thought you were dead…" he whispered.

Schulz looked down for a moment, then back into Gil's face, "This is about my brother. I don't… my brother can't die. Trust me, if I could think of anyone else I would have gone to them… but, I can't. I need your help."

"Why? Because I can't die?" Gil snapped, picking up the leather cast and opening it slowly.

"Because, d****it, I still trust you!"

Gil froze again, turning to look at him? He shook his head, "So you are as dumb as you look."

"I'm not the one with red eyes."

"Hey!" Gil snapped.

"Are you helping me or not?"

"And what if I did? What if I did get him out? What if I get him away from the government? What if I get him back to you? At this point they know he's your brother, I'm surprised you haven't been brought in yourself. Do you really think life goes back to normal? If he's an escaped prisoner, they'll find him!"

"You do remember I was a Stasi officer, don't you? I'll-"

"Yes, and if I remember it, so will they!"

"What do you want me to do? Just let them torture him to death? Throw him in prison somewhere?"

"No," Gil shook his head, looking down at the drugs, taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves.

Schulz shook his head "You're going to help my brother high?"

"No, but I don't want to help him in withdrawal do I?"

"We know what happens then, don't we?"

Gil ignored the comment and picked up one of the syringes, starting to prepare the drugs carefully, "So, we do need to talk about a plan. A strategy?"

"I have a few ideas, if you're able to listen," Heinrich's voice was cold again.

Gil nodded, bringing the band around his arm.

…

"All the recorders have been removed?" Gil stood straight, staring into the face of the guard at the door.

"Yes, sir," the guard nodded, not looking at Gil.

"Good. You won't be needed at the door. I'll call you when I'm finished," Gil entered the room alone, closing and locking the door behind him as he watched the guard leave down the hallway. He turned around, looking down at the man before him across the table. His face was thin and hallowed, but his eyes were very much like his brother's, except there wasn't sadness, there was anger. Gil scanned the room for anything that might be recording them. He saw nothing. He wasn't convinced. He walked around the table slowly, saying nothing, just watching the young man. He could see the man's hands shaking, but he clenched his hands into fists and showed no more signs of fear.

"I'm not going to tell you anything!"

"I haven't asked you anything yet, Johann Schulz."

"Well, I'm not saying anything."

"You're saying quite a lot, actually," Gil smirked. It wasn't a real interrogation, but if it was, it would be easy. He continued standing behind Johann, looking down at him. He tried to weigh the value in getting the names out of the young man. They would be done with him, and he might be rewarded for his cooperation, set free. Schulz wouldn't like it, but it would work. He wasn't sure it was a bad option, but it felt like betrayal.

"Well?" Johann snapped, "Get it over with. If you're going to hit me, go for it!"

Prussia raised an eyebrow, his smile growing a little.

"Say something!" Johann swore.

Prussia half laughed, amused. He liked this kid. He leaned in, speaking into the young man's ear, whispering in case all the recorders hadn't been removed. He doubted they had.

"Your brother sent me,"

"What?"

"Shut up. Don't screw this up. I'm going to get you out of here."

"What…?" Johann whispered back, turning his head to look towards Prussia.

Prussia slapped him, hard.

"Hey, you can't-"

Prussia grabbed his face roughly, whispering in his ear again, "Don't! speak. If you want to get out of here, you're going to play along."

Johann nodded slowly.

"Good. Now… I'm going to get you out of here…"

"I'm not giving you any names!" Johann struggled, pulling his face away from Prussia.

"We do this the easy way, or the hard way, your choice," Prussia snapped. Johann reminded him of someone else he knew, and it was more than a little obnoxious.

"I don't trust you…" Johann shook his head.

Prussia sighed. He figured they'd already offered freedom in exchange for the names. He still thought that would be easier, but he understood. To betray his friends to be killed… he could understand. He sighed again, walking to stand in front of Johann, moving the table out of his way.

"All right. We'll do this the hard way."

…

The military doctor lifted Johann's face, feeling his pulse on his neck after wiping away some of the blood.

Prussia glanced at his new boss, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Usually you don't use such… bloody methods, Beilschmidt."

Prussia smirked, "I have my moments."

His boss shook his head with a sigh, "Doctor?"

The doctor turned back to the group of officers, "He'll need a hospital if he's going to survive."

Prussia heard his boss give a long, frustrated sigh. It made him nervous. He needed to get Johann to that hospital. He could handle a few guards at the door.

"Did he give you anything?"

Prussia shook his head, "He didn't give me names-"

"Then finish it," his boss nodded to the gun on his hip.

Prussia shook his head again, "I said he didn't give me names. I have good reason to believe this is bigger than we first thought. I would send someone back to that tunnel and take him to a hospital. I'm not done with him."

Gil's boss sighed, annoyed, "You will go with him, Beilschmidt. I want him well protected. And get me that information."

Prussia nodded, holding back the smile that threatened to creep onto his face. He didn't expect to be sent along. He hoped that meant it would be a little easier. He watched his boss leave with some of the other officers and walked up to the doctor.

"So?"

The doctor shook his head, "His ribs are broken, and his nose… I'm a bit worried about his lungs if there's a puncture… We're done talking about this, we need to get him into a hospital," he snapped, nodding towards the door as it opened. Several men walked in, rolling in a narrow bed to carry him out.

Prussia watched, keeping the smile off his face. He might actually be able to pull this off.

A/N: Sorry this took so long guys. It took me a bit to find a mini-plot here. So, Schulz is back, and Prussia has to help him. And betray his new boss in the process... hm...

Addressing a reader question about Bavaria being a girl... So... consider it bad research. I didn't know there was a canon character for Bavaria, who's a guy (forgive me! It was such a small part guys... *sigh*) so, I took inspiration from an ACTUAL personification character for Bavaria from actual Bavarian festivals and stuff, and that character is a redheaded female. And she's sassy and cool, so I made her younger, but took inspiration from that. So... that's where Bavaria being a girl comes from. It now annoys me to know that there's a canon character that I genderswapped, but I still REALLY like Gil interacting with a female older sister and them having this sarcastic love/hate relationship... so I'm not currently planning on rewriting her as a guy... I hope it doesn't completely ruin this for everyone. (besides... more female presence needed in general...) she probably won't show up often, but I do plan on using her in at least one more chapter. But hopefully, you guys will forgive me for that. I have tried to follow both canon and historical details carefully in other respects...

Thank you all for the reveiws! Again, so sorry this took so long! I LOVE reading your reviews! And hmm... well... it's almost thanksgiving here in America, so thanksgiving treats for you all! (pumpkin pie. I will give you all pumpkin pie!)