*Please note that I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia*
"Mon Dieu! What happened here?" France shouted in surprise when he arrived at the apartment.
"You were at the funeral, you do the math, Frenchie!" cried a visibly distraught Romano, who had called France once the rain had ended as a last resort, that all the other nations' phones were off. France dragged a hand nervously across his face and massaged his temples, tied back his hair loosely with a black ribbon, and stepped into the room and towards the shuddering figure huddled in the corner.
"Feliciano?" Francis asked softly, edging closer. "We need you to come with us, okay?" he murmured, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, causing Italy to stiffen. He did not, however, back away or lash out, which both France and Romano took as a good sign. "Come on, let's get you out of here," France said sympathetically, pulling Italy to his feet where he swayed unsteadily, his eyes blank. Francis slowly guided the zombie-like waif out of the apartment, down the stairs, and into the lobby with out incident. When they did reach the lobby, however, everything began to unhinge.
Italy's eyes widened and began to dart back and forth frantically, giving him the appearance of a wounded deer. He started to shiver violently and dug his fingers into the skin of his forearm, clutching hard enough to bruise his pale flesh.
"Italy? What's wrong?" Romano asked his younger brother.
"G-Germany..." he whispered.
"What about Germany?" Lovino questioned.
"He-he's o-over there!" Italy cried, pointing vaguely to an empty chair on the other side of the room, his eyes huge and filled with hot tears. Romano looked confusedly at the place Italy had pointed to, then turned back to see his brother stumble in one direction, only to immediately turn around and crash to the floor. The manager and unlucky couple looking for a room could only stare in horror at the pitiful Italian being carried out the door.
Romano sat nervously outside of the door separating him and his brother, through which he no longer heard the thumps and wails from before. He jiggled his leg and had begun chewing on his thumbnail when a weary-looking man in a lab coat walked out, followed by two uniformed nurses carrying the unconscious Feliciano in their arms.
"Lovino Vargas?" the doctor asked. Romano nodded. "Your brother," he sad, gesturing to Italy, "Is insane, to put it quite simply. The loss of his... Ludwig, you said? Ludwig, has traumatized him in such a way that his mind has deteriorated to the point of hallucination. We had to sedate him for now, but it should wear off in a couple hours," the doctor said bluntly. Romano simply stared at him with a "well-what-the-hell-do-you-want-me-to-do-about-it-you-bastard?" look on his face. "We suggest that you take him to a safe environment, not your house, his, or anywhere that would remind him of Ludwig, mind you, and get him to sleep. It looks as if he hasn't slept in days," the doctor continued unhelpfully. Romano nodded like he understood, and the doctors carrying Italy helped Lovino get him out to France's waiting Cadillac in the parking lot.
"France, can Italy and I stay at your place a while?" Romano asked the scruffy blond as soon as he and his brother were in the car.
"Of course, Lovi, anything for you and your adorable brother," Francis replied, glancing creepily back at the brunette sleeping fitfully in the back seat. Romano caught this look, pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.
"Poland here! Like, what's up?" the Pole answered cheerily.
"Hi Feliks, it's Romano. Is it okay if Italy and I stay at your house a while? He's not well," Romano said, attracting an angry glare from the driver's seat.
"Oh, totally! That's okay with me, just let me, like, ask Liet real quick. Liet, can Italy and Romano, like, stay here for a while? ...Okay, I'll tell him," Romano heard him say. "It's like, totally okay!" Poland lilted in his valley girl accent. "Excellent, thank you so much Poland! We'll be there in about twenty minutes," Romano said, hanging up his phone. France sighed with disappointment, but took the hint and began the first of several turns to get to Poland's house.
When they arrived at the house, Romano thanked France profusely, who simply scoffed and drove away. Lovino shrugged, and began slowly walking up to the door, dragging Italy in his arms as the moon shone down on them. Romano set Italy down on the porch and knocked. The door was answered promptly by Lithuania, who was wearing pajamas and was obviously ready for bed. Poland ran up behind him, his blond hair dripping onto a flowered robe from a recent shower.
"Hi Romano! Do you, like, need some help?" Feliks asked, indicating Feliciano, who was yet again slumped on the ground. Romano nodded, and Lithuania and Poland stepped out to help.
"Feliks, Toris, I honestly can't thank you enough for taking us in," Romano said. "I wouldn't be able to care for Italy on my own, so this is-"
"Romano, it's totally cool, We, like, love guests!" Poland said, throwing and arm around Lithuania's shoulders.
"Like what Feliks said, we love guests, and we're always happy to help friends," Toris added with a warm smile. Romano grinned wearily back. "Your room's like, the second door on the right. We, like, put Italy on the pull-out couch in the basement," Poland said. Romano thanked them again, then shuffled off to bed.
Several hours later, Romano awoke from a restless sleep to a heavy knocking on the door. Sliding his legs out of the covers and onto the pink shag, Romano cracked the bedroom door open and peeked out at the front door. Lithuania was running, mid-yawn, to open the door, revealing Prussia silhouetted against a navy sky.
"Hello Lithuania, m-may I come in?" Gilbert asked, a worried look on his face.
"Ummm...Prussia, why are you here? It's four in the morning?" Lithuania asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I felt like I... n-needed to be here," the Prussian said quietly, surveying the room. Just then, Poland wandered in wearing Shinatty-chan pajamas.
"Toriiiiiis, come back to bed, the sheets are all cold... now..." Feliks trailed off as his partially open green eyes met Prussia's piecing but agitated red ones.
"Um, like, hi Gilbert. Is anything, like wrong?" Poland asked.
"No, I just... came by f-for a visit." he said upsettedly. "You two w-wouldn't happen to know if R-Romano and his b-brother are here, would you?" Prussia asked, brushing his silver hair away from his face.
"N-no, Gilbert." said Lithuania,
"Poland?" Prussia asked, staring at the blond.
"Like, o-of course not, Where would you, l-like, get an idea like that?" Feliks replied, mangling his words as well."
"I... can I still come in and t-take a look around?"Prussia said, walking in anyway with faltering steps. Lithuania's eyes grew large with worry.
"Ohhhh..." he said as Poland brushed past him.
"Prussia, you need to, like, totally get out!" the blond said courageously, treading forward. It was at that moment, however, Poland saw the sword Prussia had brought out of habit glinting at his side.
"Uhm, you c-can just go i-in," Poland stuttered, edging behind Lithuania, the memories of Grunwald still fresh.
Gilbert's heavy boots made a muted whump as he walked through the rooms, shaking as if afraid. Romano, still watching from his room, began to get nervous as he heard the boots hit the floor. He only managed to console himself with the fact that his brother lay sleeping downstairs.
That is, until he heard the next set of footsteps. Not the light, catlike step of Lithuania, nor the muffled shoof of Poland's slippers, or the heavy thuds of Prussia. These ones were the dragging, shambling footsteps of his brother. Lovino peered through the opening a bit more and gasped with sheer horror. Italy had awoken and come up the stairs. He now stood facing a stunned-looking Prussia. Feliciano's head was hanging down, and when he lifted it, there was no longer any hint of the happy, carefree soul that once inhabited his fragile body. It had been replaced by a look of insane, murderous rage, reflected now in the shiny metal of the pistol currently pointed at Prussia's head.