A/N: Final chapter, but there will be an epilogue up soon. Thank you so much, please continue to review!
And I had tried to add Kiku in so much more; he hasn't gotten enough love in this. Please don't forget about him!
Seta Moneta
-6-
The van finally pulled to a stop in front of a warehouse that looked quite abandoned. Antonio cut the engine of the bike far enough away that they could still see what was happening.
Ludwig got to his feet shakily and pulled out his cell phone, thanking whatever deity was looking out for him that he had reception. He first checked the GPS to find out exactly where they were before quickly dialing Kiku's number.
"Mr. Ludwig!" Kiku sounded surprised. "Where have you been? I stopped by the restaurant but no one was there."
"Feliciano and Romano were taken by Alfonso," Ludwig rambled. "At least I think that's what happened. Anyways, Antonio and I followed them to some warehouse…" he relayed what the GPS had showed him. "Do you think you can call the police?"
"Of course," Kiku said, still maintaining a calm tone somehow. "I'll be right over with them. Do not do anything rash."
"Sure, sure," Ludwig said. "See you soon." He hung up and sighed.
"The police should be here soon, we just have to wait a bit."
"They'll never get here fast enough." Antonio swore in Spanish, but Ludwig could pretty much guess what he said, as something similar seemed to be going around in his own head.
He grabbed Antonio's arm just in time to stop the Spaniard from standing up and presumable running into the warehouse, guns a-blazing.
Speaking of which…
"You can't just go in there, especially unarmed!" Ludwig protested, pulling Antonio back to a crouching position behind the bike.
The Spaniard surprised him by reaching behind his back and pulling out a gun, clicking the safety off. Ludwig couldn't help but gape a little bit.
"W-Where did you say you worked again?" Ludwig asked.
"I didn't," Antonio said. "But I'll tell you now. I'm a PI, and the police hired me to check out the Caffe a few months ago. They suspected someone at the restaurant of handing money over to the mafia, money that should have rightfully gone to the restaurant. The food and the company, well, that was an added bonus." Antonio smiled. "Thanks for going this far with me, Ludwig, but I'll take it from here."
"No way! Feliciano's my friend too, and you need backup." There was no way one of Gilbert's friends should be trusted with a firearm, either.
Antonio sighed. "You're just as stubborn as Gil sometimes. If you can hold your own, you can come with."
"I resent that," Ludwig scowled. He shook the comment off, however; he had bigger things to worry about. "Okay, let's go."
They slunk over to the main doors of the warehouse, a feat that proved surprisingly easy. In fact, there were no voices coming from inside either—it was all disturbingly quiet.
Antonio motioned some strange sign to Ludwig—something that the German translated as 'I'll take a look inside'. This was correct, apparently, for less than a second later Antonio swung his head around to peek in the open door. Almost immediately, a gunshot was heard.
"Maldito," Antonio swore, swinging his head back quickly. He raised the gun near his face and took a deep breath, nodding once to the German. All Ludwig could do was shake his head frantically, trying to tell him not to go.
But the crazy Spaniard didn't listen; instead, he grinned wildly and stepped into the warehouse. Ludwig tried to move his muscles to follow, but found that he couldn't. All he could do was stand and listen to the gunshots.
Then he heard a muffled scream—which he registered as Feliciano, or maybe it was Romano, but it sounded more afraid than angry—and all of Ludwig's muscles shot to attention. He threw his body into the warehouse, ducking on reflex, only to discover that no one was shooting anymore.
Two bodies were on the ground; the twins were bound and huddling together in the center of it all. Antonio was hurrying to untie them, but there was—blood.
"What happened?" Ludwig asked, perhaps a little frantically. He ran over to Antonio and the twins, pushing the Spaniard away and undoing the ropes himself.
"You IDIOT," Romano screamed the second his gag was removed. Ah, so that was why it had been so quiet. He stood up and shook one fist angrily at Antonio, while he tried to rip a segment of his shirt off with the other hand, presumably to bandage the bleeding Spaniard. "How could you get shot?"
Ludwig finished untying Feliciano's hands, though he had his head turned away to watch Romano and Antonio. He was surprised when two arms threw themselves around his neck, squeezing tight.
"Thank you," Feliciano sobbed. Ludwig disentangled himself and stood up, holding out a hand to the Italian.
"I didn't do anything, Antonio's the real hero."
"But you came anyways, even though Romano yelled at you." Feliciano smiled. "Thank you."
"Y-You're welcome." Ludwig felt a little awkward under Feliciano's worshipping gaze and moved his own to fall on something else—which was when he saw the van.
"Gott sei Dank!" Ludwig cried. He'd never been so happy to see a vehicle in his life. "Hurry, get in the van."
He ushered Feliciano to the van and was moving to help Romano with Antonio when a low groan caught his ear. He looked down and saw Alfonso rolling around, a minor graze on his arm. The man was crying. Ludwig shook his head at how pathetic the man was.
"What's going to happen to him?" A voice came from behind him. Ludwig turned and saw Feliciano.
"The police are on their way. But right now, we need to get Antonio to a hospital."
Feliciano nodded and moved to grab Antonio's other arm to help him into the back of the van. Ludwig got into the driver's seat while Feliciano climbed into the passenger side. Romano stayed in the back with Antonio, pressing the torn shirt to the wound to soak up some of the blood.
There was a lot of it, but Antonio was still conscious—and talking.
"My bike!" He protested as he realized they were driving away from it.
"We'll pick it up from the police later, but first you need some stitches."
"Oh," Antonio said. "What happened?"
"You were there," Feliciano said. "You saved us!"
"You shot someone," Romano cried from the backseat. "With a gun. Where did you get that?"
"Yes," Antonio laughed weakly. "But forgive me if I explain a little later, Romano. Ow."
"Idiota," Romano said, pressing his shirt against the wound a little harder. "Can't you drive faster, potato-head? Damn, Veneziano should have driven."
Ludwig clenched his teeth but followed Romano's request anyways; he didn't want Antonio to die anymore than the Italian did.
When they arrived at the hospital, they sent Romano up to the emergency room with Antonio immediately. Someone met them with a gurney about halfway to take Antonio to surgery, and it took at least three nurses to restrain Romano from following. Instead, the three of them were sent to a waiting room, though Romano had to be escorted out of the hospital for "disturbing the peace", presumably for saying some rather vulgar things in his native language.
Not that Ludwig understood any of it, but by observing the size of the wince that Feliciano would give, he could infer that it was some pretty intense stuff.
After the waiting room quieted, Ludwig explained some things to Feliciano—including Antonio's real job and how Alfonso had been behind the mysterious loss of money.
"Why would he kidnap us, though?"
Ludwig had been thinking about this a lot. "He was upset when I got called here, I think. Nervous that I would figure it out. And also, the burglary was a big problem."
"He wasn't behind that?"
"You were the one who said they caught the guy, right? He knew that you would get more suspicious once you continued losing money even after the robbery. And then you were going to close the restaurant, and he would have to start all over."
"I just…" Feliciano turned away, looking troubled.
"What is it, Feli—Venziano?" Ludwig asked, trying the nickname.
Feliciano smiled slightly, but he still looked anxious. "I… Romano and I always knew that Grandpa was involved in shady stuff, but he loved the restaurant. I don't think that Alfonso was doing this from the beginning—I can't believe that."
"Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he just got into some trouble recently. You're not…" Ludwig cleared his throat. "You're not… involved in this… this," he waved his hand ambiguously.
"No!" Feliciano said, thankfully catching on. "No, no… Romano didn't want in, and he certainly didn't want me involved."
"Oh. That's good."
"Yeah."
They sat in silence for a while. A doctor came out after a while and told them that Antonio would be fine, and they pointed him in Romano's direction.
A few minutes later, Romano sped past them, in the direction the doctor had come from. Ludwig shook his head, and Feliciano smiled.
"He was in love once, you know."
"Romano?" Ludwig shook his head. "I don't believe you."
"Mmhmm. She was older, and she thought of him only as a little brother. It broke his heart, I think. Antonio's good for him, though… he needs more friends, and he has such a hard time making them."
"I guess."
"I'm closing the restaurant."
Ludwig started, searching Feliciano's face. There was no hesitation, no trace of doubt.
"R-Really?" Ludwig asked, wincing at how weak he sounded.
"Yes. I'll talk to Lovino. We'll open again someday maybe, maybe soon. But I don't… I don't want to be there anymore."
"Why?"
Feliciano sighed. "I don't want to be ruled by my grandfather anymore. It's so silly—he's been dead for years, and all that time I've been doing what he wanted, working at his restaurant. I love cooking, but I want it to be my own… you know?"
Ludwig nodded. "I know exactly what you mean. My grandfather wanted both me and my brother to join the military—Gilbert certainly didn't want to, and I wanted to try college first. And then I found this job and… I never looked back."
"I wish I could do that."
"Better late than never, right?"
"I suppose. Ludwig…"
"Yes?"
"If we decide to do this—Romano and I, I mean—we'll need some help. With our finances, and stuff… I mean obviously we'll pay you! But—"
Ludwig laughed, long and loud, surprising both Feliciano and the lady sitting across from them. "Yes, Veneziano. I'd love to."
Suddenly, Ludwig's phone buzzed.
"Hello?" He answered without looking at the caller ID.
"Hello, Mr. Ludwig. I just wanted to let you know the criminals have been apprehended."
"Thanks, Kiku. And there was a bike…"
"Oh, yes, that. I took the liberty of bringing it back to the hotel…" The Japanese man sounded surprisingly shamefaced.
"Um, that's okay. I'll let Antonio know. Oh, and Kiku?"
"Yes, Mr. Ludwig?"
"We'll be staying a little longer than planned, if that's alright with you."
He could practically hear Kiku's smile over the phone.
"Yes, Mr. Ludwig. That is most agreeable with me."