"No way…" Alfred gasped with shock.
"I already have a bomb squad waiting; this is a threat of chemical warfare. This is much more than just a kidnapping, they want to hold the entire city hostage." Gilbert explained.
"They want MI6 to stop…" Yao pointed out.
"We can't just stop," Gilbert hissed, "it's impossible. Besides, even if I could… We do not bow to terrorists."
Yao frowned, "But, the bombs—"
"We will find them!" Gilbert hissed, "We will find Feliciano and we will find the bombs!"
"I'm not sure if everyone who has seen the video feels the same way, they put it online!" Yao replied, "It's just passed a thousand views and growing, it will be viral within days!"
"Then make sure that video is taken down before it is!" Gilbert snapped. "I'll send a request to manufacturing, and make sure that gas masks are handed out to all appropriate staff, just in case."
"Have you heard from Ludwig?" Alfred asked.
"No, not yet…" Gilbert sighed, hanging his head, "He spotted Berwald and Tino and lost them, I have agents on the lockout though, he will make himself known when he wants to. I think he just wants to beat up a few people and vent out his anger. I really doubt he will—"
Suddenly Gilbert froze, before pulling his phone out of his pocket, and frowning, before quickly answering, "Beilschmidt."
"While he's busy, we should get started," Arthur explained as he took Alfred by the sleeve and led him away from the desk, "we need to find a reason as to why it was Feliciano who was taken. And I think you can help."
"Ludwig would be able to tell you more," Alfred pointed out sadly as Arthur opened his office door, and encouraged Alfred to sit on the seat before his desk. "You have your own office? Shit."
Arthur chuckled at Alfred's surprise, "I've been here as long as Gilbert, of course I have an office as well. Now." Arthur promptly sat in his chair opposite Alfred and crossed his fingers over his lap, "Tell me exactly what you believe to be Feliciano's job at the CIA."
"At first I thought that he was Ludwig's assistant, he'd follow things up for him, perform jobs and even get coffee for him. But then I learned that it was him just being nice. He … I don't know what he is… He has the experience of a field agent, you know; he has an arrest count in the thousands, can you imagine that little guy taking down a beefy criminal? Cause I've seen the photos of it! As well as that, he has the knowledge of a manager, he can interrogate like a pro and I learned that he was one of the figures who organised for Matt to join the reformation program and overseeing his acceptance into the CIA. In fact think he's the one who organised for you to come to Washington when Matt went missing…"
"Yes..." Arthur frowned, remembering how he had first met the Italian at his brother's funeral, and was offered the job of finding Matthew, one of the few missions that had changed his life. "He was the one who contacted me. Could he really have the power to organise such a thing?"
"It wouldn't surprise me. Since he can establish priority contact with MI6; he's obviously respected here and back home. He's been with the CIA longer than either Ludwig or I … God only knows how much power he has within the CIA … Or what he knows."
The interview lasted for nearly an hour, and Alfred had recounted nearly all of the things he knew about Feliciano's job, but yet, it still felt as though Arthur's report was ineffective. They were missing someone… They both knew that Ludwig would be able to clear up the confusion; however, they knew that they had to keep doing their best.
However, the next day felt as though it would be far more eventful, since Alfred still could not get into his apartment, he spent another night at Arthur's, this time Arthur didn't even bother to set up the couch for Alfred, for he knew that the American wasn't going to be sleeping there. As soon as the elevators doors closed behind them, Gilbert handed them two portable gas masks, and warned them that if the threat of I.V.A.N is real, then they should all be ready. Gilbert's explanation was interrupted, when he received a phone call.
"It's Ludwig!" Gilbert hissed, "That idiot has actually found something!"
"What's going on?" Arthur snapped as he and Alfred promptly followed Gilbert out of the offices, however, as the elevator doors opened, the agents were shocked to see someone already standing in them.
The man was short and had physical resemblance to Feliciano; however his hair was a darker shade of brown and his eyes were green and narrower from a resting frown.
"L-Lovino!" Gilbert stuttered, "You weren't due to arrive for another week!"
"I came early; this is my little brother we're talking about!" Lovino hissed.
"Well, I'm afraid we won't have much for you to do until we find him, we don't need a lawyer right now…" Gilbert explained as he led Alfred and Arthur into the elevator.
"Hang on, you're Feli's brother right, the lawyer?" Alfred asked.
"Yes, Lovino Vargas," Lovino replied, "it's nice to hear that fratello speaks about me."
"Why are you here?" Arthur asked.
"He's here to prosecute the people who kidnapped Feli, but he's early," Gilbert grumbled.
"I am going to help as much as I can," Lovino hissed, "where are you going now?"
"Well, I guess I'm not going to get rid of you, am I?" Gilbert sighed, "I'm not going to babysit you, so you may as well make yourself useful. I got a call from some agents, they've found Ludwig and apparently he's chasing someone."
"Why the hell are you looking for him?!" Lovino hissed.
"It's a long story," Arthur sighed as the elevator doors opened.
"Oh my god…" Gilbert gasped as he stared down at his phone, "We need to get to Southbank, NOW!"
The car-ride to Southbank was spent explaining to Lovino the situation thus far, of course Gilbert was sensitive with the amount of information he gave about the case itself, and refused to disclose anything, despite how much Lovino threatened to smack him across the head. Gilbert wouldn't be able to handle the guilt of telling Lovino that his little brother had been poisoned by gas and screamed for hours whilst being filmed…
Gilbert, Alfred and Arthur managed to withhold that information from Lovino long enough for Gilbert to drive to Southbank, an area that stretched across the River Thames. Alfred couldn't help but gasp with excitement when he realised that he could see the tip of the London Eye peaking from behind one of the buildings.
However, his excitement turned to dread when Alfred couldn't help but notice the extreme of police vehicles around a corner café…
"It seems that we don't have to look very far…" Arthur sighed as he stepped out of the car after Gilbert parked across the road, Arthur noticed a familiar black motorcycle parked by the café, it had belonged in the MI6 carpark, and upon further inspection, Arthur realised that the keys were still in the ignition, and they were the same keys that Ludwig had taken from the MI6 office when he first left.
"Gilbert!" A voice cried as a short blonde man in a black suit jogged across the road, breaking from the crowd of police officers and cars.
"Tino!" Gilbert replied as the young man stood before the group, "what the hell is going on?"
"Ludwig was chasing down a woman on motorcycle, and then she went into the café here, Ludwig followed her and tried to talk to her and she attacked him, now the police are here and there's a hostage!" Tino frantically explained, astonished by the events, "Berwald tried to handle the situation, he's still in there! And Ludwig has a gun!"
"How the hell did he get a gun?!" Arthur asked.
"Um…" Alfred muttered as he scratched his head, avoiding everyone's glares. "We may or may not have pulled a couple of strings with the immigration office and got our guns back…"
Arthur frowned, seeing that there was something else that Alfred wasn't telling him, "Don't tell me you—"
"Yeah, I have mine on me right now…" Alfred whispered, "What? We may need it!"
"We'll discuss this later," Gilbert pointed out, "there is a hostage in that café with a suspected kidnapper and terrorist, guns are the least of our problems- Hang on! Ludwig hasn't seen the video, how does he know that she's a kidnapper?"
"The video is online, remember?" Arthur pointed out.
"What video?!" Lovino hissed.
"Never mind that!" Gilbert snapped before following Tino across the road towards the café, making room for Alfred and Arthur to pass the group of officers. Peering through the café windows, Arthur could see the scene unfolding before them, the tables and chairs within the café were overturned from the panic and three figures could be seen within the café. Ludwig was immediately recognisable, and the man who stood beside him was another tall blonde, Arthur knew that he must have been Berwald. As they drew closer, Arthur came to see the a black figure towards the back of the café, he immediately recognised the black motorcycle helmet with the pink flower on the side, Arthur also could help but notice the figure who stood before the woman and was being held back into her, a young child.
"She has a child hostage…" Gilbert explained before looking to Alfred and Arthur, "you two sneak in through the back, I'll try to get in and join Ludwig and Berwald in there."
Alfred and Arthur nodded as they ran towards the back of the building, leaving Gilbert to ponder his options; Gilbert looked to an officer, recognising him as an officer he has had a lot of experience with: something of a friend.
"Sadiq!" Gilbert chuckled, catching the officer attention, the Turkish officer turned to look at Gilbert from behind his police car, smiling when he recognised Gilbert.
"How did I know you'd be involved in this, Beilschmidt?!" Sadiq chuckled as he tapped the German on the shoulder.
"My little brother is in there, that's why!" Gilbert replied, "The big blonde."
"Which one?" Sadiq asked.
"Never mind, what's the situation?"
"The hostage is a young boy, still unidentified, two men are in there trying to free him, and so I suppose they must be agents, no?" Gilbert nodded at Sadiq's assumption before the Turk continued. "If anyone in uniform comes close; the situation tenses and even the agents won't let us in."
"They'll let me in…" Gilbert pointed out, "get me in there."
"But—"
Gilbert stepped forward and marched towards the door, determined to get in, Sadiq stopped anyone who tried to get in Gilberts way. Gilbert opened the door to the café, catching everyone's attention.
"We saw your video!" Gilbert announced as he moved to stand beside Ludwig and Berwald, Gilbert tried to hide his anger when he saw Ludwig holding his gun. But the trio stared forward at the woman in the black motorcycle helmet, holding a small blonde child by the shoulder and holding a knife to his neck, using him as a hostage. "Let the kid go and we can discuss this like adults, if you're not a coward!"
Instead of reacting through words the kidnapper simply tightened her grip on the child.
"You don't need to hurt the kid, he has nothing to do with this, and it's only going to make things worse for you…"
"She doesn't speak back…" Ludwig muttered, "We've tried negotiations, she doesn't respond."
Gilbert tried to hide his smile when he saw the door to the kitchen open silently and Alfred and Arthur crawl out and hide behind the counter, a couple of metres behind the kidnapper, the agents assumed their position and stared at the kidnapper, judging how quick they'd have to be to save the child.
Suddenly, before Gilbert could think, Alfred ran out of his hiding spot, and grabbed a chair, before smacking it over the kidnappers head, forcing her to let go of the child. Quickly Berwald jumped into action along with the other agents, but instead of attacking the kidnapper, he scooped the screaming child into his arms and ran out of the café; he had done his job. Whereas the other agents still had more work to do.
They attacked the kidnapper quickly, attempting to grab her and hold her still; however with a punch to Ludwig's face, she managed to break out, until Gilbert held his leg out and forced her to trip, before Arthur jumped onto her back, effectively ending the struggle. Promptly, she was placed in handcuffs and escorted outside, where the agents were greeted by the police; Arthur was relieved to see the little media attention that the siege had attracted, as he knew that media attention would be terrible for MI6 at this time.
"See! She's the woman from the video!" Ludwig explained before placing his hands at the base of the woman's black motorcycle helmet, "Now let's see who you are…"
However, before Ludwig could lift the helmet, the buzzing roar of a motor rung through everyone's ears as a motorcyclist rode onto the footpath, ramming their way through the surrounding police, unafraid to nearly run people over as he quickly rode towards Ludwig and Gilbert: the ones who were holding the kidnapper. Upon this sight, the kidnapper quickly pulled herself out Ludwig's grasp by kicking him in the stomach, before turning around and smashing her handcuffed firsts into Gilberts head, knocking him down as the motorcyclist stopped before her.
"Don't let them get away!" Arthur cried as he and Alfred attempted to leap into action with the officers, however the motorcyclist sped off with the kidnapper sitting behind him.
Arthur knew that he had to act, and now. Immediately his eyes wandered to the black motorcycle, and realised that its keys were still in the ignition, Arthur pulled on Alfred's arm and pulled the American towards the bike. "Alfred, come with me!"
"RIGHT!" Alfred replied as he jumped on the bike, sitting behind Arthur, before Arthur immediately drove of; praying to god that his minimal driving experience would be enough to prevent him from crashing.
Luckily for him, Arthur knew the city of London like the back of his hand, he knew where nearly every turn lead, and knew exactly where to go when he watched the kidnappers ride through an alleyway.
"Aren't you glad I brought this?!" Alfred cried as he took out his gun with one hand and keeping his other hand hooked around Arthur.
"Keep your eyes on them!" Arthur cried as he swerved passed driving cars, following the kidnappers as they zoomed down the road.
Alfred focussed on the kidnappers, hearing the noise of blaring police sirens gather behind them. Whenever Alfred saw a chance to shoot out the kidnappers tyres, they either turned into another street, or hid behind another car. It was irritating him.
However, the irritation melted away when Arthur followed the kidnappers onto Westminster Bridge, getting a magnificent view of Big Ben. However, he couldn't stare for too long, as Arthur sped up enough to get close to the kidnappers, Alfred was ready to take his shot, lifting his gun and establishing his aim; remembering the countless hours he had spent within the shooting ranges. But suddenly, Arthur was forced to take a sharp turn to avoid a car as he turned around King's square, dashing past Elizabeth Tower, and turning before crashing into a car in front of Westminster Abbey. Eventually Arthur had followed the Kidnappers around King's square, before they led Arthur back onto Westminster Bridge, leading them back towards the London aquarium and London Eye.
What they didn't expect to see, was the kidnappers swerve onto the footpath, before driving down the set of stairs that lead to the walkway beside the river Thames.
"Oh god…" Arthur choked as the turn came up, and he had to make the choice of whether to follow them down, or find another way: where they risked letting the kidnappers get away.
"You can do it," Alfred pointed out, holding on tightly to Arthur, as though bracing for the bumpy journey.
Following Alfred's advice, Arthur took the turn and held his breath as the motorcycle bumped down the stairs, barely making it to the bottom of the walkway. When the road was smooth, Arthur sped up, desperate to catch up the kidnappers. Multiple people jumped out of the way, or Arthur nearly risked falling over to avoid hitting them, he swerved past mothers with prams, old people, groups of teenagers, and even and entire family jumped out of the way.
The names that Arthur was called as he drove past them made Arthur wish that the bike had a siren on it.
Arthur took whatever chance he could to speed up, however the kidnappers did not care about the public as much as he did, therefore they were unafraid to go incredibly fast, however, they were not far enough for Alfred to not attempt to take aim. Despite how hard Alfred tried, he could not bring himself to shoot, the risk was too high, and before he could make a decision, the opportunity had passed.
Before they knew it, the chase had extended all the way down the walkway; eventually the agents were nearing the Shakespeare Globe Theatre.
Deciding that this had been going on long enough, Alfred raised his gun, determined to take the shot and be unafraid of the consequences of missing. Seeing Alfred raise his gun, Arthur became brave and sped up, effortlessly gliding past groups of people, getting closer to the kidnappers.
"READY?!" Alfred called, giving Arthur warning.
"DO IT!" Arthur snapped.
Alfred waited for the opportunity, seeing it draw closer and closer; driving the American insane… However, Alfred knew that he couldn't waste his next chance.
A gunshot went off… but it wasn't from Alfred.
Suddenly, Arthur and Alfred fell forward, crashing to the stone ground, gliding across the floors as the bike spun, before smashing against the stone fence. Alfred found himself laying on his back, his vision blurred and pain shooting up his back in waves. Slowly Alfred rose and looked around, a crowd had gathered outside of the globe theatre to see the scene of destruction before him. Alfred turned his head to look at Arthur, to see the Brit struggling to rise, cursing and groaning in pain.
"Arthur…" Alfred gasped as he limped towards Arthur, before falling to his knees before him, the pain in his knees drove the American crazy as he helped Arthur up.
"That's going to bruise… What the hell happened?" Arthur asked.
"I heard a gunshot… someone sniped our bike, I know it…" Alfred hissed as he helped Arthur sit up.
"At least no one was hurt…" Arthur sighed as he rubbed his head.
"We should invest in some helmets, eh?" Alfred chuckled before looking down the walkway, where he could still see the kidnappers riding away… however; they began to slow down… "What the?"
Alfred and Arthur watched as the kidnappers stopped running away, despite the motorbike helmets covering their faces, Alfred and Arthur could feel their stares... something was wrong.
Arthur was the one to ask, "What are they-"
Arthur was interrupted when a loud thunderous boom echoed down Southbank, making the entire ground shake. Alfred and Arthur glanced at each other, recognising the terrifying sensation of a bomb going off.
Before they knew it, the Globe Theatre's roof was overflowing with a thick white mist, as though it were a cauldron-prop, with the thick gas spilling out onto the walkway, engulfing everything in its path. More and more bombs went off, moving further down the walk, with devastating effect.
They knew… it was I.V.A.N…