Dro: So, I hope you guys liked A Call to Arms. I had a lot of people ask me for a sequel to The Call of Duty, but that just wasn't something I wanted to write. A prequel on the other hand...Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you enjoy this chapter. And don't forget to drop Dro a review!

Chapter Summary: Alfred and Alfred decide to storm Ivan's office. It doesn't go so well. Meanwhile, Matthew, Arthur, and Francis are led to the roof by Ivan, where they discover something horrifying.

Warnings: Violence, Language

Disclaimer: Dro will never own APH.

"Storm Ivan's office?"

The man nodded.

"Really?"

The man nodded again.

"Is that honestly the best you have?"

His double frowned. "You got any other bright ideas? I'd surely like to know them. Ivan has captured Arthur and Matthew, and Francis is working for him. They're all probably in his office now, just waiting for us."

"Um…yeah, but that would mean Ivan is waiting for us too. He'll know we're coming. He'll be prepared."

His other self shrugged. "What's your point? He was obviously prepared for us to begin with, so how're we going to change the status quo if we do something else? The only way to save Matt and Arthur is to take on Ivan. And he knows that. Which was exactly why he took them in the first place. He wants a direct confrontation with me."

"So you're going to give it to him?" Alfred grimaced. His double had a point. Ivan had planned this out carefully. He'd taken Arthur and Matthew knowing Alfred would have no choice but to take on Ivan directly. Russia versus America. A fight to the death. That was the outcome Ivan had been going for. It must've been. What else could Ivan have possibly been planning? He obviously had them right where he wanted them.

"I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I?"

"Guess not." Alfred reached for his helmet.

"Whoa! Don't! Keep it on."

"Why?"

"Because I doubt Ivan knows who you are. He hasn't done anything to you yet, which means he still thinks you're a mystery. He won't directly attack anyone unless he knows what he's dealing with. You have an advantage here. Keep it."

Alfred nodded. "Got it." He sighed. "So, how do you want to go about this office ambush?"

"I was thinking we just kick down the door and go in guns blazing."

Alfred snorted. "My God, we really are the same person. That's exactly what I was thinking."

His double shrugged. "Well, we don't have many other options at the moment, so let's just do this." He adjusted his rifle and made to head down the hallway.

"Hey." Alfred said. "What about the others? You think they're okay?"

"Gilbert, Ludwig, and Antonio? They can take care of themselves. I'm sure they're fine."

Alfred wasn't entirely convinced, but he took a deep breath and started following his double anyway. They turned down several hallways, picking up their pace as they got closer. "Do you know which one it is?"

"Yes." He held up a finger and pointed to a large oak door near the end of the hallway. They sped up, boots stomping on the carpet.

A shot rang out. They ducked, both pairs of blue eye catching the hole being blown into the wall. Alfred turned his head just in time to see a hoard of guards pour out from the two rooms across from Ivan's office. Without a second of hesitation, he started gunning them down, diving out of the way as they returned his fire with a barrage of bullets. He rolled into an adjacent hallway, swinging his rifle around and letting off another round. Several guards went down. He frantically searched for his double, finding him taking cover behind a measly little wooden table with a large fish tank on top. Shit. I've got to cover him so he can run.

He leaned around the corner and fired off another six shots, taking down four guards. But there still nearly ten more running straight at him, with more still pouring from the room. Fuck. More shots rang out from his side, and he spied his other self carefully picking off the guards one by one. Alfred saw the guard aim and yelled out for his double to duck. Too late. The bullet struck his other self in the shoulder, and the man went down, cringing. Alfred picked up his pace, shooting down another four soldiers. He flicked his eyes over to his double, who was gripping his shoulder and biting his lip. Alfred kept shooting, trying to keep them away from his other self. If those guards made it to him…

The shootout lasted several minutes, Alfred finding himself low on ammo. If he ran out this was all over. His double managed to fire off a shot every now and then, but with his arm like that, he could barely aim. Just when Alfred thought he might've taken enough of them to grab his double and escape, another five exited the second room, and he groaned in frustration. At this rate, they were going to lose. The five guards plus the four remaining charged him, and Alfred couldn't stop them in time. His other self desperately shot at them, only to get slammed in the temple with the butt of a rifle. Dazed, he stop shooting, and a couple of guards heaved him up and plunged his head into the fish tank.

Alfred heart stopped. No! His double struggled get out of the water, but he was too dizzy from the head wound. Alfred watched in horror as his double choked on the water, losing air fast. The rest of the guards descended on Alfred, guns aimed. He snapped. He lunged from his cover and barreled into the crowd of guards, rifle forgotten. Shocked, they missed their opportunity to shoot him. He grabbed necks and snapped them. He smashed heads into the wooden floor and plastered walls, blood splattering on the already lush red. A bullet flew past his shoulder, and he craned his neck, keeping his hold on a lifeless guard whose skull he'd just smashed on the wall. One of the guards who'd been holding his double down had fired at him.

And the other Alfred wasn't moving. His face was still in the water, but the guards had let him go. He was just floating there, lifeless. Alfred saw red. He leaped at the man and tore the rifle away, smashing the front of his skull in with the gun and swinging it around like a club to catch the other man by the temple. They both went down like bricks. Alfred dropped the gun and rushed over to his double, pulling the man from the water. He lowered the man to the ground, immediately starting chest compression.

"Come on, breathe! Please!" He pleaded with the motionless body of his double. "Don't you fucking die on me! Arthur will kick my ass if I let you die." He continued for several minutes, trying to jumpstart his double's breathing. Damn it, if I don't get him breathing, he's going to die! He moved to his double's side and finally tore his helmet off, tossing it to the side and tipping the man's head back to give him mouth to mouth. He gave the man several breaths, compressed his chest again, and repeated. He was running low on time now. He forced another breath into his double's mouth.

The man's eyes opened. Alfred pushed him over to the side as he choked up a gush of water from his lungs. Alfred let out a relieved sigh as his other self heaved in several shaky breaths. He patted his double's back. "You okay?"

The other Alfred turned back over, laying on his back. He still looked dazed, his temple still oozing blood. Tired, half-lidded eyes roved over Alfred's body. Alfred looked over himself and cringed. He was cover in blood splatters from the guards he'd massacred. Slowly, he turned around, wincing at the mutilated bodies of the guards. What the hell is wrong with me? How could I let myself do that? God, he'd just been so angry. He turned back to face his double, opening his mouth to sincerely apologize for his brutality.

He froze as he found his other self inches from him, blue eyes glazed over. "Um, you all right?" The man nodded languidly, nearly causing himself to topple over, obviously dizzy. Alfred grabbed his arms to steady him. His double's eyes widened and a light blush crept over his face. "Um, Alfred…?"

He went rigid as his double leaned in and pressed their lips together, kissing him sloppily. Alfred didn't move, his face burning. The man's lips tugged at his own, and he pulled away with a smack, gently pulling Alfred's bottom lip with him, a trail of saliva following him away as their lips finally separated. Alfred sat completely motionless. His double gave a lazy smile before falling into his arms, burying his face in Alfred's neck and breathing in slowly. Alfred hesitantly hugged his other self back, gently rubbing the man's back with his hand.

"I seriously hope you don't remember that later."

"Nngnnnghn."

"Yeah. You too."

Alfred considered his options. Okay, so my other self is completely and utterly messed up in the head right now. His brain is probably swollen to twice its normal size, and he can't even make coherent sentences. Wonderful. I now have an invalid take care of in addition to killing Ivan. Great. Just great. Now, what was he going to do? He obviously couldn't just drop his other self off at a hospital, but how could he take on Ivan carrying a confused and useless double? And if the man got worse, then what? He couldn't get the man any medical care in this situation.

"Why me?"

"Nng Nngnh!"

"I know, buddy. I know." He sighed.

Suddenly, he caught the sound of several pairs of footsteps approaching. Shit! Don't tell me…! He eyed his gun, which was laying on the floor out of his reach. If those were guards, he was so dead. He cringed as the boot stomps rounded the corner, only to see it was…

"Alfred?"

"Ludwig?" Alfred was sure he'd never felt so relieved in his life. "Oh, thank god!"

"Wait, you're parallel Al, right?" Gilbert looked at the incoherently mumbling Alfred in his arms.

"Uh, yeah. We had a few…problems."

The three of them stiffened as they looked around the hallway, drinking in the horrifying scene in front of them. "Mein Gott," Gilbert mumbled. "Did you do this?"

"Sorry…I got a little carried away when they were trying to kill Al here."

"Kill?" Antonio stiffened. "Is he all right?"

Alfred sighed. "Unfortunately not. He got caught in the temple with a rifle, and then they tried to drown him in the fucking fish tank. He's completely out of it. He probably has brain damage."

They all looked horrified. "Well shit!" Gilbert ran a hand through his hair. "What do we with him? We can't just leave him here, but like that…"

"Someone will have to carry him." Ludwig concluded. "He's a burden now, but we can't leave him here. We need to finish this and get him medical attention."

Antonio volunteered. With his double secured on the Spaniard's back, Alfred scrutinized the door to Ivan's office. "There's no way he didn't hear that. He's either in there armed and ready to take us all out as soon as we walk in the door, or…"

"Or he's gone somewhere else." Antonio mumbled.

"Stand back." Gilbert ordered as he walked up to the door, preparing to kick it down. "Just in case." He delivered a swift blow to the door, blowing the whole thing off its hinges. It fell backward into the darkened room. No one was inside. Gilbert immediately caught sight of the open door on the opposite side of the room, though which he could see a doorway leading to a set of stairs. "Damn. They went up."

"Up? This is the top floor." Antonio replied. "You mean they're on the roof?"

"Must be." Ludwig shrugged, then he went rigid. "Wasn't there a helicopter on the roof?"

All of them froze. Alfred was the first to speak.

"Oh shit."

Matthew walked just behind Ivan as they headed up the stairs. Moments ago, Ivan had apparently just randomly decided they would be going up the roof. If that wasn't strange enough, he'd given Matthew a stop watch with the remaining time from his countdown on it. Twenty two minutes. The watch was stuffed into his coat pocket, ticking away the seconds as they ascended the stairs. Arthur was breathing deeply behind him, huffing angrily, his hands still tied behind his back. Francis stood behind him, armed with a handgun.

Ivan pushed open the door, revealing the cool Russian night. A blast of cold air hit him, and Matthew shivered. He could feel Arthur's eyes burning into his back, and it made him feel uncomfortable. How could he tell Arthur what he was doing without Ivan figuring it out? But if he didn't manage to make Arthur understand his plan, then Arthur would be left thinking that he'd betrayed them, and he couldn't let that happen. He was jealous of Arthur. He always was. But he still loved the man dearly. He'd been so much to Matthew for most of his life. He couldn't let this go with Arthur suffering emotionally like this. He already had to deal with Francis' betrayal.

He dared to turn around and look at Arthur, whose furious green eyes met his. He wanted to try and communicate his message silently, but then he noticed Francis looking at him too, so he turned back around. He was still mad at that bastard. Ivan took them around the stairwell, revealing a landing pad with a helicopter. Matthew felt his heart rate speed up. There was no way they were leaving, right? Why would Ivan just up and leave in the middle of one of his games? Unless that was a part of the game.

The stopwatch suddenly felt incredibly heavy in his pocket.

"Ivan, where exactly are we going?" He dared to ask.

"I was thinking St. Petersburg. I have a nice house there." Ivan glanced back at him with a smile on his face.

Matthew heard Arthur suck in a breath, and he knew the man was terrified. "So, we're just leaving?"

Ivan nodded. "Yep. My little game is about over, so I believe it is about time for us to depart, da? I do not want to miss the fireworks."

"What fireworks?" Arthur snapped. "The bloody hell are you talking about?"

Ivan just kept smiling. "Oh, you'll see."

Matthew frowned nervously. He had a inkling of a idea of what Ivan was plotting, but he hoped to God he was wrong. "Ivan…um…are you planning on blowing up the mansion?"

Ivan chuckled. "Ah, you ruin my surprise, Matvey! But I supposed it would only be matter of time before you figured it out."

Matthew felt the temperature plummet around him, and he slipped his shaking hand into his pocket, retrieving the stopwatch. Ivan turned around, humming as he shuffled through his pockets for the keys. Matthew held the watch up, daring to steal a glance at it.

Sixteen minutes.

Cautiously, he tipped it to the side so Arthur could see it, and shot the man a terrified gaze. Fear shot through both Arthur and Francis' eyes. "Oh my God…" Arthur whispered. "Alfred."

They didn't know. No one but them knew that the house was rigged to explode. If they couldn't somehow let the others know, then…they would all die. Alfred. Both of them. No, I can't let this happen. He looked back at Ivan. Matthew had no weapons on him. The only one with a weapon other than Ivan was Francis, and Matthew already knew the man was resolved to keep his word to Ivan for Arthur's life. Fuck!

Matthew jumped at the sound of the helicopter roaring to life. What was he going to do? He started as Arthur tried to make a run for it, but Francis grabbed him and held him back, closing his eyes, pained, as Arthur started sobbing and screaming. "You let me go, you motherfucker! You let me go! I won't lose him again! I won't lose him again! You fucker! How dare you? Let me go!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, tears burning down his face. "Please, Francis." He whimpered.

Matthew watched as something broke in his papa's eyes, feeling the same thing breaking in him. This rouse had gone on long enough. He had to do something. Now. Ivan hopped out the helicopter.

"Time to go, everyone. Oh dear, Arthur, you look distraught. Don't be such a sore loser now. It was a great game we played, da?"

Arthur screamed incoherently at him, struggling in Francis' grasp. They were next to Matthew now. Matthew eyed the gun in Francis' hand. Francis was distracted. Ivan was laughing. He could grab it. He could take the shot before Ivan realized what he was doing. He hesitated, scared beyond belief, but he forced his body to move. He made to grab the gun, only for another shot to ring out. Ivan had moved at the last second, avoiding a shot that would've hit him dead center in the forehead. The bullet hole in the side of the helicopter attested to that.

Matthew slowly turned around, following the trajectory the bullet had taken. He was dreaming. He had to be. Because there, standing in front of the stairwell, side by side, guns aimed at Ivan…

…were the Italy brothers.

Dro: Because the stakes just weren't high enough already.

Next Chapter: Ivan and the Italy brothers have an epic show down while Matthew finally breaks and tries take down Francis and free Arthur. Meanwhile, the others make it to the roof, only to watch a tragedy unfold in front of them.