Gilbert was ready to face the suspect, readying his words to be thrown like bullets, shattering any defence Yao had. Yao sat confidently, even having the bravery to cross his legs as though Gilbert was about to give a lecture.

"You went to America twice, once during Agent Williams kidnapping, and then again during the timeframe of Agent Vargas' kidnapping. You were in the same area as Matthew as well, I bet you were there."

"You can't prove that I was in the same area," Yao snapped, "I never met Agent Williams."

"We have security footage of you at a gas station down the block from McArthur High School, where Agent Williams was held hostage by Ivan Braginski and Francis Bonnefoy," Gilbert replied, "You may not have any solid crimes against your name, however your association with the Chinese and Russian underground says a lot about what kind of world you come from."

"That doesn't prove anything," Yao replied.

"You're right, but it's awfully coincidental that we can pinpoint your relationship with Braginski for years. You attended his court trials and you were always there to bail him out: we have the records; you were close, weren't you? Did he make you join MI6?"

"Heh, you cannot prove anything," Yao scoffed, a clear sign of his insecurity, letting Gilbert know that he was on the right track.

"You weren't happy about Ivan's death, and so you continued on with his plans to terrorise London and masked it as a plot in his honour. You even dragged your family into this, who are they? Your sister and-"

"I want a lawyer."

"Don't pull that bullshit on me, Yao!" Gilbert snapped, "You all had the means and the time to pull off such a plan. You went to university for chemistry for fucks sake, you know how to build bombs and compress gas. In fact… I bet it was your bomb that killed Ivan…"

Yao's eyes widened as his lips tightened, however, Gilbert did not to hear his confession, as he could see it in his eyes.

"You ride bikes; in fact, your sister's bank records show the purchase of two new ones: what are those for? Hm?" Gilbert asked.

"You've got nothing!" Yao snapped, tightening his grip on the arms of his chair, digging his short nails into the plastic.

"Oh, I'm just getting started!" Gilbert hissed as a dark smile crossed his lips. "You disappear from the office right before the attack on Globe Theatre, were you picking up your sister?"

"You can't prove that!"

"Kiku did. Kiku also provided me with recordings of your voice," Gilbert explained, "recordings that we showed to Vash Zwingli of which he confirmed was the same voice of the person who hired him to kidnap Elizabeta Beilschmidt. Heh… You tried to have my wife kidnapped to throw me off, lucky for me; my wife doesn't take any bullshit."

Gilbert's eyes narrowed when Yao did not offer any resistance, the young man just sat still in his chair with a look of shock frozen on his face, as though he was watching his entire plan fall apart.

"You know where the safe house is too, there's also that," Gilbert pointed out, "Speaking of addresses, you knew where Kiku lived and you knew when he would be home, however you were wrong in thinking that he had the case file. You killed him."

"I did not kill Kiku!"

"Oh yeah, but I bet that you were there!" Gilbert pointed out before leaning down in front of Yao, trapping him, "tell me where the bombs are, there's no point in fighting it. I have you."

"N-…" Yao gasped, his façade crumbling.

Gilbert knew now that he had to draw out his secret weapon, "Ludwig is on his way to the apartment you've been keeping Feliciano," Gilbert explained, "and he is going to kill everyone in between him and that Italian, no matter who they are, or how old they are."
Yao's eyes widened as a horrible scenario played in his head, "Think about who is there right now, and imagine Ludwig getting his revenge. And you know what; Arthur and I don't exactly have the patience to stop him. You're made three highly skilled agents very angry."

"But … my…"
Gilbert frowned, being able to imagine perfectly whom Yao was thinking about, and as the Asian's anxiety grew, Gilbert knew that he was pulling all of the right strings.
His family.

"Do the right thing Yao, as soon as you tell me where the bombs are, I can call off Ludwig's attack, if it's not too late." Gilbert explained before presenting a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket, dangling them like a toy in front of a baby. "Let's not make this hard—"

Gilbert's hand stung as it was swatted away from Yao's face, knocking the handcuffs out of his hand, right before a heavy kick to the stomach sent Gilbert falling back against a desk.

"DO NOT PLAY GAMES WITH ME!" Yao snapped sliding open his desk drawer, and pulling out a small handgun. Instinctually Gilbert leapt over the desk and turned it over, using the wooden slate as a shield as Yao fired his first two shots, shooting two holes into the wood, one barely missing Gilbert's shoulder. Gilbert could hear Yao's panicked breaths, giving Gilbert the indication that he was having a panic-attack, Yao was shooting on instinct and Gilbert could not risk losing now.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS, YAO!" Gilbert called, "THINK RATIONALLY."

"SHUT UP!" Yao snapped, breathing heavily, "I need to get out of here…"

"NO YOU DON'T!" Gilbert snapped, running out of his hiding place, rushing towards the door in an effort to beat Yao to the exit. Yao shot at Gilbert as he ran, firing three shots that cracked the think glass of the windows, barely missing Gilbert. Gilbert suddenly changed his direction and rushed at Yao, determined to get the gun out of his hands and end this madness. "I'm not letting you ruin this!"
Yao shrieked as he aimed the weapon and shot again, hitting Gilbert perfectly in the chest, Gilbert's eyes widened as he stumbled back, feeling the shock and the adrenaline spread from the place of impact to around his whole body.
However, the lack of blood made Yao frown, until Gilbert straightened his back and flashed a devilish smile.

"Haha," Gilbert chuckled as tugged on the collar of his white business shirt, ripping off the first couple of buttons, all to reveal a dark bullet proof vest, "Nice try."

Yao frowned before Gilbert reached forward in an attempt to grab the smaller man, only to be kicked in the stomach and pushed back.
Gilbert decided now that there was no more time for him to fool around like this, he needed to finish the battle, and now: before Ludwig does something he'll regret.
Gilbert dodged all of Yao's attacks, thankful for his extensive training and skill, Gilbert ducked to avoid one of Yao's high kicks and swooped the pair of handcuffs off of the floor and snapped one around Yao's arm, making the man panic.

"THINK ABOUT YOUR SON! THINK ABOUT LEON!" Gilbert snapped, making Yao freeze, before his eyes darted to Gilbert's direction, wide as though he was finally returning to his senses, "He's going to die if you don't end this, do the right thing for him!"
Gilbert took Yao's moment of shock as on opportunity to turn him over and press his face into the desk as Yao chuffed his remaining hand, kicking away the gun.
"Tell us where the bombs are, and a team will be sent out to stop Ludwig's assault, hopefully your son is ok… we better pray that he is."

"You monster, you're using a boy as bait!" Yao snapped, "You had the power to end Ludwig's attack before it even begins, and yet you're here threatening me! You're risking your little brother too! Do you have no shame?!"

"I'm doing this because I know that there is no other way, you've pushed me too far Yao," Gilbert sighed.

"You bastard!" Yao snapped, before sighing, "Fine… I'll tell you…"

Ludwig's bike screeched to a halt, and sat up straight and he looked up at the slab of concrete-excuse for a building that stood across the road from him. It was the perfect place for a hide-out, unattractive, a hive of drug users and prostitutes, the complete opposite to what most would expect a terrorist to hide, at least one with the power and arrogance of the terrorists who took Feliciano. Ludwig hid himself beside the building to hide as he tipped out the contents of his backpack, with the speed of an solider, Ludwig built his gun from the large parts that had been supplied to him, he knew that he was going to show no mercy to those who hurt Feliciano: no matter what agreement he had made with Gilbert.

The aim of the plan was to make Yao believe that Ludwig was rouge and dangerous, that he was going to mercilessly hunt those he cared about in his pursuit to find Feliciano and rescue him. Ludwig frowned as he buckled together the last parts of his gun.

Ludwig was going to show no mercy.

He ran into the apartment complex and ran up the stairs, determined to reach the floor that Oz had instructed. Nothing mattered to him anymore, he needed to see Feliciano again, to see his smile, hear his voice and feel his touch: the thought of rescuing him consumed him and nothing was going to stop him as he kicked open the door to the apartment and ran in.
Naturally, Ludwig's presence caused a commotion, and it wasn't long before a woman with long dark hair and a small frame ran out of one of the bedrooms, carrying a gun.
"GIVE HIM BACK!"
Ignoring Ludwig's demands, the woman began to scream in an Asian language as she attempted to shoot Ludwig, only to be shot down first and silenced forever.
Ludwig could not feel remorse as he ran past the woman's corpse, consumed by anger and determination to complete his mission; he could hear more noises coming from the master bedroom.

As soon as Ludwig opened the door he froze in shock from the sight that befell him.

The entire bedroom had been transformed into a low-budget hospital and Feliciano was the unlucky patient. He laid motionless in the centre of the room, on a small and dirty bed, he looked weak and defeated, a shell of his usually bright and cheerful self. Feliciano was connected to an IV drip by his wrists, and another machine was connected to Feliciano by little tubes in his nose. However, the sight of a man wearing a disposable surgical mask standing beside Feliciano snapped Ludwig back into the reality of the situation, and he raised his weapon.

"DON'T SHOOT OR HE'LL DIE!" The young man screamed, raising his hands in submission, "PLEASE!"

Ludwig was almost angry enough to ignore him, however, he could not push himself to pull the trigger… he lowered his gun and marched towards the man, fighting every urge he had to punch him within an inch of his life. "What did you do to him?!"

"I'm keeping him alive!" The young man whimpered, "Please, I need to help him… I need to stay by him and administer the cure when he needs it! It's a very tedious process! Just please, do not shoot me!"

Ludwig frowned, before staring down at Feliciano, relieved to see his chest rise and fall with every weak breath, "fine, but if he dies, so do you."

"I'm fine with that…" The young man agreed, his eyes still reddened with tears and his voice quivering with fear, "so… you caught my dad…"

"Yes. And he is going to pay for this, all of you are," Ludwig growled.

"Oh…" the young man sighed as Ludwig walked around the bed, inspecting every inch of Feliciano, as though he was sceptical that this was the real thing, however, the aching beating of his heart confirmed otherwise. Ludwig could not stop staring at the Italian's face, almost becoming overwhelmed, all of the work that Ludwig had put into finding him was going to be worth it: as he was never going to lose Feliciano again.
Ludwig reached for Feliciano's hand, feeling the Italian's soft, but damaged skin, relieved to still feel warmth radiate from him, reassuring Ludwig that everything was going to be ok…

Meanwhile Arthur listened to the engines of cars roar and the whispers of agents around him, Arthur breathed deeply against the pressure of his bullet proof vest, and against the strain of the heavy-duty gas mask. Arthur could hardly recognise the agents around him as he guided them around the small apartment complex. He waved his arm to gesture to the first group to travel around the back of the building, whilst he led the other agents in through the front: taking the front position himself.
Alfred would have loved this, Arthur sighed, Alfred would have loved seeing Arthur in such a position of power, as well as the tension of the situation and the excitement of the rescue mission.

He climbed up the stairs as his agents followed him, dispersing onto every level, preparing to check every room and arrest everyone in sight: no stone must be left unturned.

Finally, Arthur reached the level that Ludwig had instructed and sighed when he saw that the door was left open, with the door handle suffering significant damage. Arthur silently led more agents into the room, before sighing at the discovery of the body of a woman, with a clear bullet shot to the head. Arthur motioned for two more agents to continue searching the apartment as he took out his radio.

"Causality on level four, target apartment, woman, Asian, around mid-twenties." Arthur explained, knowing that Gilbert is listening on the other end, "this is not good news for Yao. I'm assuming that it's his sister, no sign yet of Ludwig, Feliciano or Leon."

"Agent Kirkland," an agent called before walking down the hall, "targets found."

"Scrap that, targets found," Arthur explained into the radio as he ran down the hall, ripping off his gas mask, certain that the battle was over.

And surely enough, when Arthur entered the bedroom and say Feliciano lying in the bed with Ludwig standing beside him, he knew that his assumption was right.
Arthur smiled as he picked up his radio and announced. "It's over."

Alfred's senses awakened as he felt the cool air pass through his lungs, bringing him back to life… he felt as though he had taken the longest sleep of his life: his entire body was numb and he was so confused: he could barely remember his own name.
However the numbness was interrupted by a tingling sensation that rocketed through his hands and feet, as he heard noises gather around him. He was no longer filled with poison…. He could feel the control over his body return to him, and he finally forced his eyes open, only to be stung by the bright white light… it took little common sense to remind himself that he wasn't dead: no, Alfred knew that if he was going to die, he would put up a much greater fight…

"Alfred…" A soft voice murmured, sending a chill down Alfred's spine as he instinctually tightened his hands into fists, only to feel that something was already in his hand… as his feeling returned he realised that it was smaller, soft and warm. "He's squeezing my hand, he's waking up!"

"Urh…" Alfred grumbled as he fought to wake up, determined to see the world around him and return to the world.

"Alfred," The voice called, as though reaching out to Alfred, begging him to come back. The voice was like a calling to Alfred, a beacon of hope… The voice was soft and refined, the accent attracting Alfred like a ship to a lighthouse.

As Alfred's vision returned to him, he came to understand where he was, and what had happened, and Alfred could finally see the face of the man who stood by his bed, holding his hand and whose voice guided him back to reality.
"Arthur…"

Arthur smiled hopefully as he leaned into Alfred, inspecting every inch of his face, his smile widening as he came to realise that Alfred had returned to him. Without hesitation, Arthur leaned in closer and slightly parted his lips before turning his head on a slight angle. Alfred couldn't help but smile as Arthur lightly pressed his lips against Alfred's delivering a soft kiss, before parting slightly to chuckle, "welcome back…"

Slowly, but within the hour, Alfred had gained back his ability to move: which was expected, considering his minimal exposure, however, he knew that he was lucky. Immediately, doctors started using the cure according to Leon's advice, and surely, the young man was proven right, and proven to be a medical genius.

Ludwig waited patiently beside Feliciano's bed, having not moved from his side since he found him… At the news of Alfred regaining consciousness, Ludwig hoped for the best from Feliciano. However, despite how many times he had been given the cure, Feliciano remained in his deep sleep.

"How's he doing?" A voice asked as the door to Feliciano's room opened. Ludwig looked up from Feliciano to see Arthur wheeling Alfred into the room, as the American sat patiently in a wheelchair, wearing the loosely-fitting blue hospital-clothing, as though he had just gotten out of bed.

"He's ok, he's going to be ok," Ludwig answered, "We just need him to wake up… He's squeezed my hand a couple of times, and has murmured a little bit…"

"He will wake up soon, I'm sure of it," Arthur muttered.

"How are you feeling?" Ludwig asked Alfred as Arthur wheeled the American to sit next to Feliciano's bed. Alfred smiled as he took Arthur's hand as his face wore a grateful smile.

"I feel fine, I'm only in the chair as a precaution," Alfred explained, "I'm sure that Feliciano will be the same."

"We have heard more from the doctors, regarding the other patients, they're beginning to wake up," Arthur explained. "We've managed to prevent the death toll from rising over fifty, so we have a lot to be proud of."

"I know we do…" Ludwig sighed, looking back to Feliciano, internally begging for him to wake up, as Ludwig knew that he would not rest peacefully until he knew that Feliciano was going to be safe from any more danger. "I'm going to make them pay for hurting him…"

"Don't worry, Yao and Leon are in custody. There is no doubt that Yao will be going to prison… But Leon… He's difficult."

"Why?" Ludwig asked.

"He's sixteen," Arthur answered.
Alfred frowned as he watched Ludwig's expression change, before returning to his stern frown. Alfred know what Ludwig was thinking about, or rather; who he was thinking about, before Ludwig's anger masked his ability to rationalise and accept the possibility of leniency for Leon.

"As soon as Feliciano can, we are going to go back to America and see what we can do," Ludwig explained, "He assisted in the kidnapping and torture of a top CIA agent, there has to be something that we can do."

"But he's still a child, and Yao influenced him," Arthur pointed out, "he was only following his father."

"Fine, I don't care, we'll sort this out when we return home," Ludwig replied, blatantly rejecting Arthur's point.

"Um…" Alfred muttered, "About going back to America…"

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked as Alfred smiled nervously before turning to look at Arthur.

"I…" Alfred muttered, his anxiety growing larger with each passing second, "I'm not ready to say goodbye… and well… I don't have much waiting for me in America, ever since Matt left, I find myself being unable to function, but you taught me that I can get better and that there is always a way around a problem. I want to stay here." Alfred finally turned to Ludwig, whose face was frozen with shock, as he analysed what Alfred was saying, "Is there any way that I can defer from the CIA and join MI6?"

"I can make that happen…" A weak voice murmured, stealing the attention of everyone in the room.

"FELI!" Ludwig gasped as he tightly grasped Feliciano's hand, "you're back… you're actually back…"
Feliciano smiled at Ludwig as the German began to crumble, his knees wobbling as his head fell on the pillow beside Feliciano's face, being careful to not smother the weak Italian.

Feliciano chuckled weakly as his eyes wandered around the room, taking in the sight of everyone who stood around him.
It was then that Ludwig began to lose his composure, his adrenaline was unable to calm down as he held on tightly to Feliciano, internally making a vow to protect him to the best of his ability.
No one was ever going to separate them again, and Ludwig was going to fight to the death to keep that vow.

"He's too young for adult prison," Gilbert sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest, sighing from the tediousness of the situation.
It had been over a week since Leon was placed in custody, awaiting the determination of his fate. Alfred had returned to work, determined to find a place within MI6, whilst Feliciano had begun his intense rehabilitation, with Ludwig only parting from his side for work.

"But he's still dangerous, and the CIA wants a piece of revenge against him and his father," Ludwig pointed out.

"But, he's still a kid…" Alfred muttered, sighing when his statement went unnoticed.

Arthur glanced to his right to look through the window into the interrogation room, watching the teenager nervously play with his fingers. Arthur couldn't help but sigh, the doctors were hailing this child as a medical genius, praising him for being able to create and administer a cure for the terrible gas that he and his father had created, no doubt with the help of Ivan Braginski. This boy had a lot of potential, it was a shame that he was led down a bad path…
Testimonies from both Leon and Yao built the teenagers story, he was born in Hong Kong and raised by his father and aunty. Ivan had been a large part of Leon's life, considering that Ivan had been granted the title of being Leon's godfather. Ivan had taken Leon and his family all around the world for their work. Leon had even known Francis and heard stories about Mathieu, but had never met him. Ivan acted as a teacher for Leon, inspiring him to study chemistry and medicine, and providing him with the guidance to perform his experiments and knowledge to guide him along the way.
Arthur and Alfred had been talking, drawing multiple comparisons between Leon and Matthew, and were unable to deny that their stories were eerily similar.

"I say we reform him," Arthur pointed out, "think about it, he's just like Matthew!"

"Don't compare him to Matthew…" Ludwig hissed.

"Don't ignore the facts!" Arthur snapped, "He is not only a child, but a child with potential! Imagine what wonders he could do with his knowledge, we just need to lead him down the right path. You gave Matthew that chance … why won't you give it to him?"

"He's refusing to talk," Gilbert pointed out, "he's not giving us much of an idea of what he is capable of, including reformation. This is going to be difficult, Arthur…"

"Then leave him to me," Arthur spat, "I will look after him and guide his reformation, he will be my responsibility!"

Alfred watched as Arthur argued his case, admiring his strength… however, Alfred knew that he could not just sit back and do nothing, he had to help Arthur and save Leon.
Alfred turned around and stormed out of the room, making sure that he stole everyone's attention, Alfred quickly swapped rooms and entered the interrogation room.

Knowing that everyone was watching him through the double-sided mirror, Alfred smiled at Leon and took at seat across the table from the teenager.

"Hey…" Alfred murmured as he casually sat, smiling at Leon.
Unsurprisingly, Leon did not mutter a single word, he stared down at the table as his knees began to jump, overwhelmed by the anxiety.
"You know, I knew someone like you. He was my best friend."

That statement caught Leon's attention, and the teenager lifted his head to listen, "What do you mean?"

Alfred smiled sweetly, doing all he could to ease the teenagers anxiety, "His dad was a bad guy… but he loved him… and he knew that he wanted to do the right thing by his father and so, he hurt people… He was sixteen when he was taken into custody, and put into a reformation program. He passed with flying colours and became one of the bravest agents I had ever known… he was my best friend, and I know that I will never have a friend like him. He was in the exact same position as you are now. He was scared, he didn't know what was going to happen to him… But he knew that he was going to make it, he was determined to do well and make up for the mistakes he made. And I know that you are capable of doing that too."

"Who was he?" Leon asked, Alfred's story had caught the teenager's attention, coaxing him to imagine the possibilities that were laid before him.
Alfred smiled, knowing that everyone on the other side of the glass was watching him, and understanding what he was doing, and seeing that it was working.

"His name was Matthew."