Hello, and welcome to Chapter Three! I hope you're enjoying the story so far, even if it's not what I usually write (or not what you usually read, X'D).

This one only shows Eduard's perspective, whoops. Elts' thoughts will show up in the next one.

Also, Elts is smart as hell. She figured a lot of things out pretty quickly, and she's not even up to par.

Writing this is a great de-stressor, haha. (Not to mention, it's really fun exploring how these two characters interact with each other.)

Elts is very clingy and erratic in this, but it's because it's only been a short amount of time since she was rescued. (Not to mention, she has a concussion [sort of], as well as PTSD.)

*I do not own Hetalia. (I do, however, own Elts and everyone from her universe).*

Installment Three

Estonia tightened his embrace when she nodded and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm a mess," she muttered, her breath hot on his neck. "I apologize if I am making my stay here awkward. It's just…" She let the end of her sentence trail off, almost like she either forgot what she was going to say, or just didn't want to speak any longer.

The blond tentatively rubbed her back, being sure to keep clear of the 'honor student' scars. "It's all right." Truth be told, he wasn't expecting his guest to be so clingy, especially from how aloof she acted in the meeting room, but it didn't put him off, especially since he understood at least some of why she was acting this way.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Estonia spoke. "I need to finish some important work, but you can sleep for awhile. Once I'm done, I'll make dinner. Is that all right?"

Elts pulled away from her mentor's hug and nodded, though her eyes were dull. "Can you show me to my room?"

"Certainly."

As Elts bent down to pick up her discarded clothes, Estonia suppressed a wince. The girl's spine jutted out as much as her hips and shoulders did, making her seem even more breakable than before. He noticed her hands shook as she stood back up, gripping the fabric tightly.

Suddenly, Elts stumbled forward, and she dropped the clothes in favor of grabbing Estonia's shoulders for support.

"Miss Mer—Elts?"

"They hit me pretty hard in the head many times right before everyone was rescued," she murmured, letting go of the blond in favor of sinking back onto the bed. "My skull was cracked in multiple places. I mean, I've died from blunt force trauma before, but this time, they really went overboard. My head hurts constantly now; it's been a month, but I don't think I completely healed, yet."

Estonia's stomach twisted. "He died from being hit too hard," Lithuania's voice echoed in his mind, taking him back to the day when they had to carry Latvia's battered, lifeless body up from the basement. "He was already hit in the same spot countless times before; I guess his body just couldn't take any more."

The older boy forced the thought from his mind in favor of grasping Elts' hand. "Just sleep here, then. It's no trouble, especially if your head hurts too much."

Elts pushed herself into a sitting position, narrowing her eyes. "People around you, your friends, have been hurt like me. I can see it in your eyes, and in the way you act. You're experienced with this, aren't you?"

Estonia raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even with a possible concussion, she was still able to figure that out. A burst of pride bloomed in his chest; he was pleased to know that one of his people was so perceptive.

"Yes," he finally said, squeezing her hand. "My best friends went through countless hardships. I did, as well. But since I wasn't the target a lot of the times, I had to be there for the others. I wasn't good at it back then, but I like to think I improved. I had to, in order to give them hope."

"You are very kind." Elts' eyes got foggy. "I had to do the same for my best friends, too. But I was never strong enough. I was called the lucky one, a cruel nickname given for the sake of irony. I might not have been lucky, but I always the last one harmed. It was to break my spirit. And it worked. I'd watch as my friends were destroyed in front of me. And then it was my turn."

Estonia felt sick; he hated hearing those words come from his protégé's lips. She's just a girl, not even done with secondary school. What made him sicker was the fact that this was not the first time such phrases went through his mind. Inwardly wincing, he pushed away thoughts of forced labor camps and a third of his population being systematically wiped out, preferring to focus on the here and the now, even if it wasn't pleasant.

"Eduard?" Elts' soft voice pulled him from his daze. "You're hurting. If I've done anything, I—"

"No!" His response was sharper than necessary, but he had to make her see that it wasn't her, that it wasn't her fault that he was slipping back into his darkest days. "It's not you." He pushed aside her bangs and smoothed her hair, a gesture that was only exclusive to Latvia before this. "The world is just a cruel place, that's all."

"Yeah. And history seems to repeat itself."

The copper-haired girl's words chilled Estonia. "What?"

"They planned it that way. They turned us into their pawns for some twisted historical reenactments. Even when we were at the school. And when we were at the facility? I know the history of my country, Eduard. I bet they thought it was funny how they locked me, Liene, and Liutas in a frozen room, emulating Siberia. Except we didn't even have clothes, in that 'test'. I lasted the longest in that one. Liene died first. She was only around 140 centimeters, and weighed barely anything. Of course she fucking died first!" Her grip on Estonia's hand tightened significantly. "You know what made it even better? The scientists placed bets on who would last the longest. Our suffering was nothing more than cheap entertainment for their own amusement, and our lives were like petty sports games. Isn't that hilarious?"

Estonia felt the girl's nails dig into the back of his hand, breaking the skin. He watched with morbid fascination as blood welled up between her nails and his flesh, though he snapped back to attention when she started to laugh. The sound was absolutely heartbreaking, but what cemented Elts' agony were the tears streaming from her eyes.

"I want to die, Eduard," she sobbed, curling herself into the fetal position. "I want to die for real. I hurt so much; nothing's going away. If it's not the pain in my head, then it's phantom pain from the previous experiments. And the screaming; I can still hear my friends' and fellow classmates' screams in my head; they won't stop!"

As the younger girl's breathing sped up, Estonia quickly pulled her into a sitting position, wrapping his arms around her and gently rocking her. "I know it hurts," he murmured, weaving a hand through her thin hair. "And I know what it's like to want to die when it's impossible for you to. But trust me on this one, you will heal. It will just take time. You were only liberated a month ago, Elts. It's only natural you're reacting this way."

After a long stretch of silence, Elts looked up at the blond and nodded slowly. "You're immortal too, aren't you? You really are the personification of Estonia. I thought I heard wrong when you said that back in the meeting room…"

More pride filled Estonia's body; he wasn't being obvious that he was a Nation, but the fact that one of his people—who also just had multiple panic attacks as well as an obvious head injury—figured it out so easily made him very pleased.

"Yes," he finally said. "I was wondering if you picked up on that."

"That's why you smell like home." Nodding once more, she wrapped the blankets around her and curled up in bed, closing her eyes.

When he was sure she was asleep, Estonia ruffled her hair one last time before exiting the room. As he made his way to his office, all thoughts of doing paperwork left him. Instead, he wanted to do some research. He knew he wouldn't like what he'd see, but he couldn't help it. The more he knew about Elts'—as well as her friends'—time at the facility, the easier it would be to help his protégé heal. Taking a deep breath, he logged into his government's intranet and scrolled until he found what he was looking for: a folder marked 'Project Longevity'.

And the plot thickens. Estonia (as well as you readers) will discover more of Elts' backstory in the next chapter.