"Amor, I need you take wake up now…" Antonio whispered. It was 6 AM, but he and Lovino needed to wake up early in order to make plans for their escape. He started shaking the man gently before whispering again, "Lovi, it's time to get up."

"Nngh…don't wake me up, you bastard…" Lovino mumbled, rolling over…and falling out of the bed. Antonio watched with some guilty amusement as Lovino struggled to fight his way out of the covers which had overtaken him, finally popping his head out and frowning. "Shit...right, I almost forgot," he mumbled, frowning and shaking his head. "You're right, it is time to get up. We should get out of here and make plans before they start to track us…right?"

"That's right," He answered as he grabbed Lovino's hand, pulling him up off the floor. "We'd better hurry. They have a lot of people, and they'll find us easily if we don't move." He reached into the small suitcase he'd hastily packed before they left his residence. He pulled out two pairs of jeans, a button down shirt, and a t shirt, throwing a pair of pants and the button down toward his lover. He knew that the Italian would probably complain, being the fashionable man that he was, but a suit was simply not practical for their situation. "Querido, I need you to put these on. We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes to meet Francis. He's prepared fake identification for us, as well as a nice amount of cash. From that point on, we'll be on our own."

"…alright." To his surprise, Lovino grabbed the clothes and began putting them on without complaint. Still, his expression betrayed him, and Antonio could see the worry in his eyes. "Antonio…you don't have to come with me. It's dangerous…"

Before he could say another word, Antonio had a finger to Lovino's lips, a faint smile on his face. "Please remember what we talked about yesterday. Everywhere you go, I will follow—especially in situations like these." He put his arms around Lovino's shoulders, pulling the other man in close. "If it's dangerous, what makes you think I'll leave you to do it alone?" Antonio kissed his lips chastely, then pulled away and began getting dressed, unable to keep himself from chuckling as he heard his lover mutter a 'bastard' at him before grabbing a comb and beginning to fix his hair.

"Where are we going to go then? They've probably got people watching us…"

"Francis and Matthew have a room here. After we checked in, those two went to prepare the documents and money for us. The mafia knows our faces, but they do not know theirs. Everyone who saw them is now dead." Antonio hesitated at the last sentence, not wanting to disturb Lovino again. "They're going to meet us in the café downstairs. We'll eat and chat a bit, look natural, and they'll hand us an envelope. We're going to go upstairs, back here, and figure out what we want to do next. We have to decide quickly, but we also have to make sure we make the right choice."

"Well, alright…" Lovino crossed his arms, a frown spreading across his face as he buttoned up his new shirt. "I'm ready then. But, Antonio…" And suddenly Lovino was staring at him, an intense expression on his face. "If anything happens…should anything happen…promise me, even if I'm in danger, you'll stay out of harm's way. Promise me that, Antonio." Without waiting for an answer, Lovino grabbed his suitcase and headed for the door. "I'll see you in the café."

Antonio watched silently as Lovino walked out the door. Holding his head in his hands, he considered his lover's words; he was a very impulsive person, and he knew for a fact that he would put himself in danger in order to protect his lover. It was a part of him that he couldn't control—his need to always be fighting, dominant, to protect what was his. He'd lost so much already, and the last thing he wanted taken away from him was Lovino. Glancing at the clock, he noticed that ten minutes had passed since Lovino left. He slipped his key and his wallet into his pocket as he made his way out the door, making sure to switch the sign to "do not disturb" before making his way downstairs.

Antonio strode over to the table confidently, a fake smile plastered on his face. He ordered from a coffee from the overly cheery waitress, slightly disappointed that churros were not on the menu, and took a seat next to his lover. Francis and Matthew made it easy to join in on the conversation, their easygoing personalities temporarily calming the Spaniard. Every once in a while, he noticed Lovino glancing around the café, a worried expression briefly crossing his face before he settled down in his chair again. Antonio placed his hand on Lovino's thigh in a feeble attempt to calm the man down, to let him know that he didn't have to worry. Around 7:15, Francis and Matthew took their leave, leaving the other two with enough money to cover the food, and a large, tightly sealed envelope.

"Tonio," Lovino mumbled, "I think it's about time we go—"

"Ah. Excuse me, you two?" The pair jumped as a voice called out to them. Lovino fell back into his seat, turning to look over his shoulder…only to find that it was only a woman approaching them. "Ah. Good. I was worried you would run," the woman said quietly, grabbing a chair quickly and pulling it up to the table. Her nametag read "Elizaveta", and as she sat down, her eyes locked upon Antonio, a small smile on her face. "A…Tonio," she said quietly, her eyes darting away towards the front for a moment and a small frown crossing her face. "I still owe you a favor, so…you can't go out the front. If you come with me, I can let you out the back way. Yes?"

"Elizaveta…what are you…" Antonio's voice trailed off mid-sentence, trying not to attract attention to himself. He shot his lover an apologetic look before turning back to the Hungarian, smiling, and nodding. "It's good to see you again." He stood up carefully and began collecting his things off the table, leaving enough money to pay for their breakfast. He motioned for Lovino to follow him, smiling reassuringly.

Elizaveta stepped through the counter and held the door to the back rooms open for the pair, before shutting it behind them. "I heard about your plight, and wanted to help," she said shortly, navigating expertly through the boxes on the floor.

"Just who are you?" Lovino asked, looking from Elizaveta to Antonio. "And how did you find out about this? Antonio…"

"Don't you remember, Lovi? This woman is Hungary—er, Elizaveta. She helped Roderich raise your brother when you were living with me. You can trust her…she's one of us." He took Lovino's hand in his own, sensing the other man's distrust. "How do you know of our predicament, Elizaveta? We thought no one knew but Francis and Matthew."

As he walked down the corridor with Lovino and Elizaveta, he thought back to the day he had lost Lovino. Feliciano coming into his house and demanding his brother back, threatening war…he couldn't believe that the boy had been so brave. Antonio was vulnerable at the time—Holy Rome was slowly collapsing, Francis was slowly being defeated, and his former husband was constantly battling his mentor. Watching the most important person in the world leave his house to become his own country for the first time in centuries, Antonio should have felt proud. Lovino was becoming an adult, with his own set of rules and his own kingdom to build alongside his brother. But all Antonio could feel was sadness—the boy he had been raising for decades had left him, and that was the bottom line.

Austria and Hungary had been happily married for many years when Lovino left Antonio. He couldn't believe one small fight between the two would lead her to cheat—he couldn't believe that he had been the one she'd cheated with. Not long after the unification, Elizaveta and Roderich had begun fighting, thanks to Gilbert's constant declarations of love to Elizaveta. Gilbert had been one of Antonio's closest friends, but even he had started to admit that the pestering was getting extreme.

One evening, he returned to his newly-empty house to find the Hungarian waiting for him in his living room. She had just had an enormous argument with her husband over Gilbert, and needed to seek advice from someone who knew both of them well. After a few drinks, she began to open up more and more. She told him how she wished she could please Austria like Spain did when they were married, how she cared for Prussia in a more than platonic way. Antonio, also affected by alcohol and sorrow, offered physical comfort, and Elizaveta was more than happy to accept. He had told Lovino of his sexual history with Francis and Austria when they had started dating, but he had never told him about what had happened with Elizaveta, at her request. The guilt he felt now, holding his current lover's hand while getting help from a woman he was hiding an enormous secret with, was the heaviest burden he had felt in a while…

He barely realized when she started to answer his question. "Oh, I...word travels around this hotel," she said curtly, not looking back to them. "Here, this is the door," she said bluntly, kicking some boxes out of the way and pulling a key out of her pocket. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, but...I wish you all the best," she said quietly, hiding her face from the two as she pulled the door open. "Lovino first," she said softly, gently grabbing the other man's shoulder and pushing him towards the door.

"What? Hey, let go of me! Why do I have to go first, I-"

And then she slammed the door shut on Lovino, quickly locking it behind him and throwing her back against the door with a stern face on. "I'm sorry Antonio," she said bitterly. "But they were going to hurt you if I didn't hand him over...I'm sorry."

And she grabbed a frying pan from one of the shelves and slammed Antonio over the head with it.

"Antonio? Antonio!" Lovino shouted, banging his fists on the door as he tried, and failed, to get it. "Elizaveta, let me in! What are you doing?" He opened his mouth to shout again...and found suddenly that there was a hand clamped over it. He gagged, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't—...a warm, inviting, blackness settled over his vision, and suddenly Lovino found himself falling deeper and deeper into darkness.

"You can't run from the mafia, Lovino..."

(AN: A huge thanks to my co-author who wrote most of this chapter. I don't know what I'd do without her! Also, school is happening, so expect things to be a bit slower.)