AN/ This chapter is really weird… Fixed I guess.

EMIL WAS freezing. The bridge seemed especially cold tonight, or maybe it was the just because the first snow of the year fell softly around him. As he peered over the bridge he could only imagine what the dark waters below him would feel like. He wasn't stupid enough to jump and see for himself, so it would have to stay a mystery. The teen reached his shaky hand out of the warmth of his sweater pocket into his jeans, grabbing his cellphone. There was a text from his brother, and more importantly Natalia.

Emil jabbed the enter button and made sure she wasn't canceling on him. He had nearly died climbing out the window, he'd hate to think that he walked all the way out here for nothing. Emil replaced his phone with a frosty sigh and patted his other pocket for a cigarette. He lit it with a curse, and watched the end glow red.

"Didn't I tell you those were bad for you?" Emil glanced at the new voice, smiling.

"Hey, Natalia." He leaned against the edge of the bridge. Despite the fact she had turned him down and crushed him the day before he felt surprisingly warmer just seeing her. Natalia didn't answer, too busy taking a drink from a bottle. Her face was pink, but Emil blamed that on the cold. He wasn't sure what to blame the alcohol on her breath on.

She slurred into his face, "I have to ask you a question…"

Emil reached out and grabbed her arms, "Hey, are you drunk?"

"Of course not. I'm fine." Natalia put another protective hand on her bottle. "Now, is Lukas home? I went to his house…"

"He's at Berwald's. He couldn't drive home." Emil held onto her arm and started to pull her to a bench farther down the bridge, "Wait, come sit down. Sh-Should I call someone?"

"Why couldn't he drive?" Natalia fell on the bench, taking another swig from her bottle.

"Natalia is that the only reason you called me out here?" Emil had been asked to do many stupid things by drunken people. But this was a little too far. "It's, like, 13 outside."

She fell against him, offering him the bottle, "Want some? I can't finish this by myself. There's plenty left."

Emil took it – thankful it was mostly full – and set it on the ground, if nothing else but to keep it away from her, "Natalia why are you looking for Lukas?"

"Brigitte's gone." She weakly grabbed for the alcohol, "I was gonna go see him."

"And then what?" Emil turned her chin to make her look into eyes. His heart twitched, and he wasn't sure if he should be angry or worried.

Natalia leaned back on the bench, "What do you think?" She fell quiet, and Emil guessed she was falling asleep. "He probably wouldn't take me back anyway…" They sat quietly, and watched the snowfall around them. Emil's mind raced with ideas. Should he just call Berwald or Lukas? Perhaps Mathias would keep it all a secret. Maybe he should just call Natalia a taxi. But could she get home from there? The thought of bring her back to Berwald and Tino's crossed his mind, along with bringing her back to Lukas's currently empty home.

Natalia sat up abruptly, smiling, "I got it!" She grabbed Emil's hand tightly, making the poor boy flush fiercely, "Can you do me a favor?"

Natalia didn't want to get up in the slightest. She knew that beyond the safety of her bed was a world of bright lights and loud noises. She wished desperately to lie in bed all day, sleeping and moaning. But something told her she had something to attend to. The noise from her TV made its way to her ears, and she sat up.

Natalia didn't remember leaving the TV on last night, then again she didn't remember much from last night at all. Something heavy knotted in Natalia's stomach. She looked down, realizing she only wore black lingerie and fishnets. How she got into them she had absolutely no clue. Natalia glanced around her room suspiciously, spotting a camera on her dresser. What if some creeper had drugged her and taken pictures of her? What if he was going to gruesomely murder her? What if she had picked up a guy at the bar? Natalia crept out of bed, not taking the time to change. She silently snuck into the large room that served as a kitchen and living room. She saw no one on the couch, and deduced that they were lying down or hiding from her to jump out and kill her without a struggle. (Definitely the latter.)

Natalia ran to her kitchen, ballerina feet hardly making a sound. She grabbed the handle of the largest knife from the block, and turned her head to make sure whoever was there hadn't moved from their position. Natalia slowly lifted the knife and held it out in front of her. One step at a time she walked to the couch, holding her breath and being careful not to step on known creaky spots on her floor. Closer and closer. Natalia was right next to the couch now, but she didn't look just yet. With a deep breath she pounced to the foot of the couch, holding her knife ready to stab.

A wide-eyed Emil stared up at her, already pale face ghost-like. He swallowed thickly, "Nat?"

Natalia blinked in surprise, then relaxed with an angry sigh, "What the hell are you doing here?" She barked.

"I had to bring you home for the pictures." Emil pushed her blade away with a finger, "And it was cold and late. I figured it be alright if I stayed. Long as I didn't mess with anything." He smiled nervously, "Was I wrong?"

Natalia rolled her eyes and stormed back to the kitchen to return the knife in it's place, "It's fine. You just scared me, is all." She paused with her hand still on the knife and looked back at him, "Pictures?"

Emil flushed, "You wanted me to take pictures of you last night…"

"That explains the camera… What about the get-up?" Natalia looked down at herself once more and started to walk to her room for something to cover up with.

Emil followed her meekly, "You wanted me to take pictures of you in… those. Then we…" He trailed off, worried expression darkening his features, "You really don't remember?"

Natalia wrapped her robe tightly around her, "No. Spit it out." She stared at Emil without wavering, expecting a full answer.

Emil shrugged, "We brushed them up a bit and e-mailed them to my brother. You said he'd have to take you back once he saw them."

Natalia continued to stare, "I did what?"

"… You had me send Lukas provocative photos of yourself." Emil went to his camera and started putting it in its case with much focus, trying not to look at the women in front of him.

Natalia collapsed on her bed, stunned, "Oh my God... Oh my God."

Even more guilt stared to gnaw at Emil, as he realized he shouldn't have helped Natalia in her drunken state. He should have taken her home and dropped her off at the door. Emil cleared his throat, "I'm sorry."

Natalia shook her head, "That doesn't help me." She looked up at him, "How often does Lukas check his e-mail?"

"Quite often if he has his phone. But I think it's still in my room…" Emil hung his camera over his neck.

Natalia stood up again, "Can you get into his e-mail."

The teen snorted, "Of course I can!" He smiled, "Do you want me to delete the e-mails?"

"Yes. Beyond recovery. Just get rid of all evidence that the pictures even existed. Okay?" Natalia stepped closer to Emil, "Do you understand how important this is?"

Emil nodded, "Yeah, I get it..." He smirked, "Although, it might work."

"What?"

"He might come back to you if he sees those pictures." Emil waited as Natalia mulled over the thought.

She shook her head, blonde hair moving with her, "No. I don't want to ruin him and Brigitte, and I don't want him back like this. Now go, and make sure he doesn't see those pictures."

Emil nodded and turned, "Whatever you want."

"Thanks." Natalia called after him, sitting back down. She put her head in her hands. How could she be so stupid? She'd never drink again, and she'd never be caught in a situation even remotely like this either. Ever… but maybe a shot or two for the hangover.

Lukas woke up on Berwald's hard couch, foot aching. He reached over his head and grabbed a small pill bottle on the end table, popping one in his mouth and swallowing it dry.

"Good morning!" Tino pranced in, cheerful as he usually was in the morning. He leaned over the edge of the couch, "What do you want for breakfast?"

Lukas smirked, "Cooking? Maybe I should get myself one of these wives."

"You're damn lucky you're hurt and on Vicodin, Lukas." Tino scowled, "Otherwise I wouldn't be so kind." Tino went to the kitchen, continuing to rant, "You guys are always so pessimistic, it puts me in a bad mood. No wonder I'm so crabby by the time we go to bed. And for the last time I'm not a wife! And neither is Berwald! I just choose to stay home because I don't need to work, and it's not like I have anything to do. You don't really collect generic, day-to-day skills in the army. Not in the army I was in at least…"

For the most part, Lukas didn't listen. He knew Tino didn't need help filling the silence, and frankly he wasn't too interested in what the man had to say. He padded his pockets and the couch for his phone, when he couldn't find it he remembered that he had never gotten it back from Emil. Lukas groaned and sat up, stepping gingerly on his booted foot. He did his best to get up the stairs to Emil's room, and it took a painfully long time. He wasn't used to the heavy boot, and kept stomping his foot and bumping it on the side of the steps.

Finally, he was at Emil's door. Inside, he sighed at the sight of more stairs, despite being much shorter. Once at the top he took a break to look where his phone might be.

Or something else of interest.

Lukas looked over the books in Emil's bookshelf, pleased to see a good selection. He skipped over the computer on his desk. (It didn't take a genius to know what was on that.) He opened a desk drawer, slamming it shut as soon as he saw a suspicious bottle of lotion.

'Damn teenagers.' Lukas thought, trying another drawer. He pulled out a box of cigarettes, slipping them in his pocket. He rifled through pens and sticky notes, but found nothing important. In another drawer he found a stack of photos. Lukas could only guess that they were taken by Emil himself. He looked through some, wishing that Emil had showed them to him himself. They were quiet good. Lukas smiled and thought of the day when Emil had gotten his first camera. He had spent hours taking pictures of every little thing. And even longer still to figure out how to develop them.

In the next, and last drawer, Lukas found a mess. Rusty metal, rocks, shells, and old pictures. There was a pocket watch that Lukas remembered fondly. They had found it in the woods behind their house, on one of their usually unsuccessful treasure hunts. The fact that Emil had kept it gave him hope for their relationship.

He also pulled out a small velvet box with their father's wedding ring in it. Emil must have stolen it from Lukas's room long ago. Lukas sat on Emil's desk chair and fingered the gold band. He slipped it on his thumb, debating to take it back. Lukas decided to replace it, they'd talk it over another day. Although Lukas would probably take it, he had been closer to their father than Emil.

He found a gold bracelet that had been their mothers. It was tarnished and small, it'd have to do for one of their daughters. Emil would definitely take it, he had been quite the 'Mamma's boy.' Lukas found a tiepin their father had given Emil. It was gold, with a small, embellished lion – The family symbol. Lukas fingered it sadly. Their family had fallen from pride and grace. They used to be large and influential, but now the two remaining sons bickered and argued daily. Perhaps Emil kept it as a reminder of that. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get Emil to work with him.

Lastly, Lukas pulled out a pewter spoon. It was polished, and designed with ornate roses and vines. It had been their grandmothers, a woman they both hated bitterly but loved more than anything. It was often that Lukas would steal from her to amuse Emil. And this had been the gold medal of his endeavors. Lukas chuckled and returned with the other things. The keepsakes gave him faith, he couldn't possibly see Emil and himself being torn apart by disagreement now.

Lukas found his phone on Emil's bed and sat for a second to look through his messages. He ignored old texts and glanced over missed calls before coming to his email. A message from Natalia caught his eye, and he opened it.

AN/ My internet is crashing as I try to upload this, I'm mooching off my neighbor. Needed to address the brother's relationship for background and set-up. Tino is so much fun, so is drunk Natalia. EDIT: I left the best AN when I was drugged.