A/N: Part… Five? Yeah.

So much drama in this chapter…

Seta Moneta

-5-

Ludwig did just as his brother suggested he do— he waited and he watched. He observed the comings and goings of the customers of the Caffe Veneziano in search of anything suspicious.

On the third day, Romano asked him (in not too many words) to stop doing so.

"You're scaring the customers away. We've gotten complaints about some foreign-looking guy staring people down, and we figured it was you."

"Ve, I don't think you're scary, Ludwig!" Feliciano said. Ludwig gave him a tight smile.

"It's okay, I'll get back to work. I just tend to… doze off sometimes."

Romano scoffed but left it at that, choosing instead to return to the kitchens. As he pushed past the swing doors, Ludwig leaned forward a little to see if he could catch a glance of the elusive Alfonso.

"Are you still looking for 'suspicious characters'" Feliciano asked, doing air quotes at the words that Ludwig had told him in the first place. The German gave a nod.

"Do you know anything about Alfonso that may be connected to the robbery, Feliciano?" he asked suddenly.

"No, just that he used to be friends with Grandpa in the ma— at Grandpa's old job."

Ludwig glanced over and saw Feliciano fidgeting nervously. He was about to open his mouth once more when the door to the restaurant opened and Antonio stepped inside.

"Hola, mi amigos," he exclaimed, slinking over to the table that Ludwig had claimed as his own for the past two weeks. Feliciano greeted him in return, while Ludwig simply nodded an acknowledgement.

"I just got off the phone with your brother, Ludwig. He told me about you theory."

Ludwig groaned. He was actually surprised that Gilbert had kept his mouth shut for longer than forty-eight hours.

"I just want to say, I will support you any way I can," Antonio continued, looking just like a determined Spanish revolutionary. "If someone here is putting Lovino in danger, I want to see them caught! You should be safe too, of course, Feli," he ruffled the Italian's hair, "but I think Ludwig would do a good job looking out for you."

Ludwig sighed. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Antonio? Someone to bother?"

"Of course," Antonio snapped his fingers. "I have to go say hello to Lovi." Before he left he reached down and brought out a brown paper bag, handing it over to Ludwig. "Give this to your brother next time you see him."

Ludwig just grunted in reply and set the bag down next to him. From the weight of it, it was probably some fancy wine. Now he had to worry about smuggling that through the airport.

"Ve," Feliciano said quietly, interrupting Ludwig's train of thought. The German looked over at him. "Is this truly dangerous?"

Ludwig's eyes flashed. "You tell me."

"I—" Feliciano stopped, looking sad. "Romano doesn't want me to tell you."

"You shouldn't let your brother tell you what to do."

Feliciano stood up from the table suddenly. "I don't want to tell you."

"Why? I'm trying to help you, Feliciano, but I can't do that if you're keeping secrets…"

"It's nothing!" Feliciano blurted out, looking close to tears. He placed a sweaty palm over the back of Ludwig's hand, the one that was resting on the top of the table. "I would tell you if I thought it was safe, but—"

"If you're involved in it—"

"I'm not, don't worry," the Italian said quietly. He moved a little back from the table, but Ludwig flipped his hand over and grabbed onto the Italian's to stop him.

"Does Antonio know?"

"What do you think?" This was a different voice, and Ludwig saw Romano seemingly materialize behind his brother. Feliciano yanked his hand away from the German's.

"Fratello, where…?"

"He left. And I suggest you do the same," Romano said, looking pointedly at Ludwig. "Forget everything you heard. Forget us. Don't come back."

He practically threw a wad of cash at Ludwig, who fumbled to catch it.

"That should be enough. Don't come back here saying we owe you money, it won't work."

Ludwig opened his mouth to protest, but he saw Romano's hand shaking as he reached for Feliciano, who just looked confused and maybe a little sad… frantic? Ludwig shook his head and headed for the door.

"Ludwig, don't go, we still need you!" He said, pulling away from Romano to rush to Ludwig. Romano looked hurt but didn't go after his brother.

"No, it's okay," Ludwig sighed. "I was failing you anyway. There are probably better accountants out there—"

"But I thought we were friends!" Feliciano cried. "You still haven't had any of my pasta!"

"I'm sorry," Ludwig said, and he realized he truly did mean it. Then he turned and walked out of the Caffe Veneziano.

He was not even five paces away from it when he found Antonio, slouched against a neighboring building. Antonio looked up at him with surprised brown eyes, looking very much like a lost dog.

"You too?" He said. All Ludwig could do was nod.

Antonio sighed. "I asked you to help them," he said.

"I know. I wanted to."

"Romano was scared, I could tell," the Spaniard continued. "Something is wrong."

"I know."

"Well, what are we going to do?"

Ludwig thought for a moment. Never in a million years would he think his life would turn out like this, joining forces with one of Gilbert's friends to help someone he had only met a month ago. But he really did like Feliciano, even though the other man was so quirky. It made him want to protect him.

"I don't know," Ludwig said. "I think I might just go back to the hotel, talk to Kiku, and then—"

He was cut off by a sudden punch to the jaw. It wasn't that violent, but it still made him stagger back in surprise.

"Lo siento," said the Spaniard. "But I'm not going to wait around while Romano and Feliciano are in danger. Now will you help me save them or not?"

"I… yes," Ludwig said, rubbing the growing bruise on his cheek absentmindedly. "But I had always planned to, if you would have just let me finish…"

Antonio laughed, and Ludwig wondered how he had not realized how mad this man was before.

But then again, he was friends with Gilbert and that Frenchy. And Ludwig had always thought Antonio was the most normal out of all of them.

"Vamos, we may not have that much time," Antonio said. "Who was it that you were suspicious of, again?"

Ludwig was about to speak when movement caught his eye and he advanced to the opening of the alleyway, the same one he had met Feliciano in.

It was dark, but he could still make out three figures, one of them obviously brandishing a weapon. The two smaller figures cowered together, and Ludwig's heart froze when he realized there was only a small possibility that they were not who he knew they were.

The larger figure pushed the two others into a van and then got in on the driver's side. Ludwig turned back onto the sidewalk just as the van sped out of the alleyway and onto the street.

"Dios mio, what just happened?" Antonio asked, his voice a little frantic. Ludwig tried to calm his heart but found he couldn't, and instead spun to face Antonio.

"Do you have a car?" He asked.

Antonio did not have a car. He had something that was quite possibly the most dangerous thing Ludwig had ever laid eyes on, and he had grown up with a grandfather who was a weapons connoisseur.

It was a motorcycle, and it would easily catch up to the van, and it could comfortable carry two people, but for some reason Ludwig could not force himself onto it.

"Come on," Antonio said, passing him a sleek black helmet. "They're getting away."

Ludwig resigned himself to his fate, comforted by the fact that if he died in the fiery crash that was looming in the very near future, at least he might get props for trying to save someone from a kidnapping if he made it to heaven.

He shakily placed the helmet over and swung a leg over the bike, looping his arms tentatively around Antonio.

With any luck, they could catch up to the bad guys and steal their van for the return trip. Oh, how Ludwig wished that would be the case.

"Hold on," Antonio said, as if Ludwig wasn't already crushing his rib cage in anticipation. "Now let's go save our friends."

Ludwig probably would have said something encouraging but he had already clamped his mouth shut to avoid screaming when Antonio pulled out into traffic.