Chapter Two: I'm Caught in a Hurricane

Gilbert's head throbbed as he was pulled up to his feet by his hair again. Ivan had not let his tight grip on him go yet. And what was worse was that the taller man was now dragging him across the snowy plain.

His first reaction was to try and get the larger man to release the grip on his hair, which felt as though it was going to be pulled out by the roots. But Ivan was much more stronger than he was at the moment, so every little attack and struggle that Gilbert tried to make against him did nothing to really help him.

Ivan's smirk only just increased, noting down how flimsy Gilbert had gotten under his hand. It was obvious that he enjoyed having this much power and strength over him.

Soon, over the horizon, a building came into view. Squinting through the thick snow, Gilbert could make out that it was some old warehouse. It was abandoned, of course. The walls were made of wood that looked a million years old. The roof was poorly attached, with huge holes in them, allowing snow piles to fall through inside. Overall, the whole place looked like it would fall over at any second.

The two of them were still in silence, only the whispering of the wind and the crunching of their footsteps was all that was heard. Gilbert could see the forest start to disappear from view, until it was engulfed by more snow as they neared closer and closer to the abandoned warehouse.

How strange, Gilbert thought. Why would this be here? Surely this isn't Ivan's house, is it?

Ivan opened the door with a loud creak once they had arrived. Dust and snow flew out from it as though it hadn't been opened in a while. Letting go of Gilbert's hair, Ivan shoved the shorter man inside, following behind him also.

Gilbert had to admit that he was glad that Ivan had released his hair, since he tried to fix it again. He hated looking so disheveled in front of people, he said it was not too awesome. Even though he was still bleeding pretty harshly, Gilbert had managed to pat down his hair to its normal style to try and make himself even look a little half decent.

But Gilbert's little victory didn't last long as Ivan kicked him forward to the nearest wall. The albino fell to his knees, his head bent over so that he was staring at the wall. The taller man's gaze did not leave the other's agonizing figure as he took a seat on a chair near the middle of the room.

"You look better in blood," Ivan commented, slight amusement in his voice. "Well, your own blood at least..."

"I'd bet I'd look more awesome in your blood." He retorted back, muttering under his breath. Gilbert still kept his head down, shaking slightly, but not making eye-contact with Ivan still.

"You should stop denying things," Ivan continued with the same tone, clearly ignoring Gilbert's snarky responses. "Admit it, you've gotten weak, Gilbert..."

"But I'm not weak... I'm not weak..." He told himself over and over, like it was some sort of chant. His voice slowly raised, making Ivan able to hear him more clearly.

"I... am not..." Somehow he managed to get to his feet, narrowing his red eyes at Ivan while he nonchalantly sat on the chair. "Weak!" He yelled. And with some burst of energy, he charged at him, his hands raised to punch him in the face.

But Ivan was quicker. The taller man merely just raised up his hand to block Gilbert's little surprise attack, and pushed him back down onto the ground again.

Fear flashing in front of him, Gilbert's eyes widened. He landed on his back with a sickening thud, making him think that maybe something had broke back there. This was not what he needed. Letting out a sigh, Gilbert winced and sat up to face Ivan again, sending him a glare of hatred, but was stopped.

Ivan was... laughing?

"Oh, Gilbert," He began, looking somewhat longingly at the albino as he leaned his head against his arm. For a second, he looked like a little kid with a schoolgirl crush. "How you amuse me so."

What a sick bastard! Gilbert clenched his teeth together, narrowing his eyes again. Getting entertainment out of other people's torture through pain. Sick.

"Ah..." Gilbert muttered quietly, grabbing his side in pain. Him landing on his back must have made the cut on his side open up more so, since more blood had appeared on the side of his uniform.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gilbert could see Ivan's head perk up in interest. Ugh, must he always be so interested in bloodshed? Just leave me and my bleeding alone, He almost shouted out loud.

"What do you want from me?" Gilbert spat out eventually, not facing Ivan fully on and bringing his head back down. "You could have just left me out there, you know..."

Ivan blinked innocently. "Did you not listen to what I said? I cannot be truly satisfied until I make you personally suffer with my own hands..." He explained in a rushed voice.

Gilbert closed his eyes for a moment, his head still bent down so that his white hair covered part of his face. "What..." He panted, still not bothering to look up at him yet. "What are you going to do with me then?"

This time, he raised his head up, his red gaze wasn't as hard now. In fact, there wasn't anything but concern and maybe even a bit of fear in his eyes now. Who knew what he was going to do to him? Then again, who knew what was going inside Ivan's mind?

Seeming to read Gilbert's thoughts almost, Ivan gave him a smile again. But this one was different, it was much more creepy-looking, and faintly showed his white teeth. Gilbert's heart sank at that and slightly became shaken. He had never seen that smile on him before, and it really freaked him out.

"Just you wait, comrade..." He began, letting out a sigh and fixing his scarf more securely around his mouth. "I will do things to you that every man would fear..." Came his muffled voice from behind his scarf, but Gilbert knew all well that he was having that same smile again.

Gilbert couldn't help but stare silently up at him, eyes widening once again. Fear... What did I fear? he asked himself. What could Ivan want that was much more horrific than death? He didn't know. And he didn't want to wait to find out. He had to get back. Ludwig was probably out there right now, looking for him. But he was stuck here, with this monster of a person.

Seeing Ivan just sitting there, not really making any more gestures towards him, Gilbert took a short moment to relax, letting his muscles unloosen enough so that he was placed on the ground comfortably (or as much as he could get), careful not to rupture any more of his body again. He grew more tired by every blink, until his eyes fully closed as he muttered one last thing,

"Ludwig..."

"Hm?" Came Ivan's voice from across the room, but Gilbert didn't even bother to open his eyes again as he got into a somewhat of a comfortable position. "Oh yes... the German. I almost forgot about him..." Ivan continued. "I'm going to siege Berlin... Do you want to wait here while I move on to victory? He asked, tilting his head ever so slightly so that he appeared almost innocent-like.

That caught Gilbert's attention at once, snapping his head up in an instant. "What?!" He panicked, moving himself to an upright position. "No... You won't win this... I will no just stand by..." He couldn't bring himself to finish any of his sentences. If Ivan was going up against Ludwig, there would be no way that his brother would be able to prevail, considering that Ludwig was also in a poor condition like him, which was an easy target for Ivan.

But the taller man just chuckled at him. "You just wait... I will show you how I punish those who dare hurt the Mother Russia." His usual smile was back again. He didn't allow Gilbert to respond, nor did he say anything more. He just stood up from his chair and grabbed his blood-stained pipe, dragging it along with him as he left the albino, not listening to him any longer.

Hurt him? How did I hurt him?

All that Gilbert recalled doing was a little teasing, but that wasn't much was it? Was there more to this than he thought?

Either way, Ivan was gone, but he saw his chance to escape. He had to get out of here somehow. Gathering as much strength as he could, he staggered to his feet, blood still somewhat gushing from one side of his leg as well as the side of his whole body. Fumbling along, and knocking some things over, he reached the door to the old building. He tried turning the doorknob, but it was no use. The door wouldn't budge.

And that's when Gilbert lost it.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP ME IN HERE FOREVER!" He yelled aloud, slamming his fists against the door, but it still wouldn't move. Falling to his knees, he bent his head down as another tear slid down his face as he knew that Ivan had a smirk on his own.

This was all his fault. He should have never traveled up this far up here.

"Now then..., our plan shall proceed." Gilbert heard Ivan address his men.

As he heard Ivan and his troops begin their descent towards Berlin, Gilbert couldn't help but tug at his hair and wince in pain as more blood began to flow from his wounds again. He couldn't do anything now. He was trapped.

All his life, he would always look out for Ludwig, and he would do the same to his older brother. Now, Gilbert had basically set him up for a death sentence. He knew, somewhere deep down, that Ludwig would probably not survive it, knowing how large Ivan and his army was.

So all he could do was wait. Just wait out those long, agonizing hours until Ivan returned.