This is called "Desperate Times" requested by MoonSong7. The request was for Austria x Switzerland. Here you go.

Vash slipped on his jacket as he was about to go out into the crisp, late fall air. He hoped that when he got to the "workplace" he wouldn't have to stand outside for very long, and he would get paid enough to buy himself a decent coat for the coming winter.

He opened the door leading out of his apartment and called, "Lili, I'm leaving!"

A small voice answered, "Wait!" and a girl of about fifteen ran out of her small bedroom to hug her brother, "I love you, Vash."

Vash hugged Lili back gently, "I love you too." Make sure you get your homework done, okay?"

Lili looked up at him and nodded, "I will. See you soon." And she went back to her bedroom.

The Swiss man sighed as he left and locked the door behind him, shoving the key into his jacket pocket. He walked to the street corner he worked almost every night. Now all that was left to do was stand there until someone picked him up. Having nothing better to do, he wondered which scumbag it would be tonight. Would it be one of the regulars? A black, expensive-looking car with tinted windows pulled up next to Vash, making the answer to his question a no. Man or woman? Man, Vash noted as said man rolled down his window.

Vash could tell that the man was feeling awkward as their eyes met, "Hi."

The man pushed his glasses up and nodded in greeting, "How are you?"

Vash hesitated, as this wasn't a question he got often, then shrugged, "I'm doing good, all things considered." he answered, gesturing to everything around him.

"That's good..." After a moment, he said, "My name's Roderich, by the way."

"Vash."

"Nice to meet you, Vash. Um, would you like to... spend some time with me?"

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

Roderich chuckled. "I guess you don't. Get in."

Vash walked over to the passenger's side and opened the door, sliding into the seat, "Where to?"

Roderich told Vash what half of them tell him, "My house." And they rode there in silence, Vash trying not to nod off.

"Hey," Vash felt himself being nudged, "Wake up. We're here."

The sleepy Swiss half-opened his eyes and looked up at the house, then his eyes widened, amazed at what he saw. Roderich didn't have a house. He had a mansion. With a huge garden framing the tall white walls encasing countless windows, and topped with an expertly done black-shingled roof and honest-to-God brick chimney, Roderich's "house" made Vash boil with jealousy that someone who picked up prostitutes got to live in luxury like this. Meanwhile, Vash and Lili were stuck with an apartment that was barely big enough for them.

"Impressed?" Vash could hear the smirk in Roderich's voice.

Vash didn't say anything, nor did he even glance at Roderich. He was afraid that if he did, his rage would prove to be too much.

Roderich got out of the car and went over to Vash's side, opening the door like the gentleman he was pretending to be. Vash got out of the car and followed Roderich to the grand double doors. Roderich knocked, and Vash was surprised to see that a little child no more than six opened it up for them.

"Welcome home, Mr. Edelstein," the little boy greeted, brushing off his apron as he spoke, "Dinner's ready."

Roderich nodded, a small smile on his face, "Thank you, Feliciano. Go get yourself a plate and take it up to your room."

"Okay." The little Italian bowed and scurried to the kitchen.

Vash was even more disgusted. Roderich had a boy of barely tall enough to reach the doorknob cook for him?

Roderich saw the look on Vash's face, "I know what you're thinking. I didn't ask, Feli offered. Now come, I bet you're hungry."

The smaller man followed, his stomach rumbling at the thought of a decent meal. He sat down at the table across from Roderich. As he picked up his fork and dug into a plate of steaming pasta, he thought about the boy who had cooked it. How was he already such a good cook? Was he Roderich's son? And if he was, why did he refer to Roderich as Mr. Edelstein instead of Father? Vash asked all of these questions and more.

Roderich chuckled, "No, he's not my son. Not by birth, at least. I adopted him after I was told his story. You see, his mother died shortly after he was born. So Feliciano and his older brother Lovino went to live with their grandfather. He was actually the one who taught Feliciano to cook, as well as draw and anything else that had to do with the fine arts. Feliciano was able to create beautiful paintings before he could even talk. I imagine Rome would have taught him quite a bit more, if he hadn't have passed away." Roderich sighed, "Because Rome, their grandfather and only living family member when they were put in his care, never left a will, the two boys were put in up for adoption. In separate orphanages."

"Does Feliciano know what became of his brother, then?" Vash asked, curious to hear the rest.

Roderich shook his head, "That's why I took in the poor boy, to help him find out. I've contacted almost every orphanage within a one hundred mile radius. Those that tried to help us had no record of a Lovino Vargas." He pushed up his glasses, now eager to change the subject, "But what about you? How does someone like you start...?" He searched for the right words.

"Whoring around?" Vash filled in.

"I wasn't going to put it like that."

"That doesn't matter. It's the truth."

"Just answer the question."

Vash sighed, "I have an adopted sister. Her name is Lili. I found her starving in an alley near my apartment. I took her home, fed her, gave her clean clothes. The next day I became her legal guardian." He looked down at his now empty plate, "I wasn't able to make enough to support both of us. I tried to get a second job, but no one was hiring. I got desperate. Lili is very intelligent; she goes to an amazing school. I needed to keep her in there and keep her fed and safe. That's why."

"I see." Roderich got up from the table and picked up their plates, "Maybe I can help with that. Wait here." Vash did as he asked until Roderich came back without the plates, but with his wallet.

He took out some bills and handed them to Vash, "This should cover her textbook rentals and part of the tuition, if you haven't paid those off already. There should also be enough in there to buy the both of you some decent coats for the winter. Tomorrow's Saturday. Take her out to get one."

Shocked, Vash looked down at the money in his hand, "Thank you sir... But I can't take it."

Roderich crosses his arms, "And why not?"

"Because I didn't do anything for it."

"Do you really think I would ask you to?" Roderich took his hand and led him to the door, opening it for him, "The car outside will take you home. I would come with, but I have to tuck Feli into bed."

Vash nodded thanks and went out to the car.

"How about this one?" Lili asked as she held up a pink coat with a white trim of faux fur, "I'm pretty sure it's in my size."

"Let's see." Vash unzipped the coat and put it on her, "Hmm, looks good. It goes with your dress well."

Lili smiled and curtsied, "Why thank you."

Vash had already picked out his coat, so they headed to the checkout line to pay for them. But Vash, not paying attention, ran into somebody in passing.

Angry, he turned to look at them, "Hey, watch where you're-!" And stopped when he realized who it was. This time, though, there was a woman with him, holding hands with Feliciano.

She turned as well, "I'm so sorry, we'll get out of your way."

But Feli tugged at her hand, "Mr. Edelstein, look! It's the man from yesterday!"

Roderich nodded, slightly flustered, "I see him." He looked down at Lili, "The coat is beautiful, my dear."

Lili bowed, "Thank you sir. May I ask who you are?"

Vash intervened, "Roderich, this is Lili, my little sister. Lili, I met this man yesterday for... Business."

"Ah, so you were the appointment Roderich had last night." The woman extended her hand, "I'm Elizabeta, Roderich's wife."

The slightly younger man took her hand and shook it, "Roderich didn't mention you last night at all." He glared at the aristocrat as he said it.

"Oh, that's alright. He prefers to keep his work and home life separate."

An awkward silence filled the space, then Lili asked, "So what brings you here?"

Roderich motioned to Feliciano, "Feli outgrew his old coat, so we have to get him a new one before winter really sets in." After another awkward silence, he turned to his wife, "Elizabeta, do we have any plans next Friday?"

She thought for a moment, then shook her head, "I don't think so. I may have to work the late shift, though."

"Then Vash, maybe we could have dinner again. You could even bring Lili. I'm sure Feliciano would love the company." Feli nodded, eager.

Vash was about to protest, then Lili interjected, "We would be delighted to come over, sir." And bowed.

Roderich nodded, "Then I will see you both then. Does six o'clock work?"

"It's fine." Vash answered gruffly.

One week later...

Lili was in awe as they approached the house. What kind of friend had Vash made? She couldn't comprehend any circumstance in which her brother would meet a man with this much... Wealth? Status? Maybe a little bit of both? Lili didn't know. She had to work to close her mouth as Vash rang the doorbell.

The little Italian boy opened the door, a huge smile on his face, "Come on in, Mr. Edelstein is waiting for you!" And he hurried into the living room.

Vash and Lili followed, and Roderich got up to meet them, "I'm glad that you made it."

"Likewise."

A brief silence followed, then Roderich suggested that Lili go with Feli to his room. Lili nodded and allowed the child to lead him there.

Lili wasn't sure what to do, as it had all been so sudden, so she asked Feliciano what he wanted.

"I would say we could eat, but the food's not ready yet." he frowned, then brightened up again, "But maybe we could draw some pictures!"

They did that for a while, and Lili was surprised at how talented Feliciano was at drawing and painting, despite being only six. When they got bored of that, Feli told her how Mrs. Hedervary (turns out she decided to keep her maiden name) sometimes dressed him up in her old clothes. He even showed her some. Finally, though, they got tired of waiting for food.

"I'm so hungry..." Feliciano grumbled.

Lili stood up, "Why don't we go check with Roderich to see if the food is done?" Feliciano nodded and they exited to the living room.

The blonde teenager gasped. For her brother was on the couch, in the living room, making out with a married man. He was lying on his back with Roderich on top of him, and Lili had taken enough Health classes to know what might happen next.

"Vash!" The two men jolted apart, Roderich falling off the couch in doing so.

Feliciano had barely registered what was going on, but he rushed to Roderich's side any way, "Are you alright Mr. Edelstein?"

Roderich forced a smile, "I'm fine, Feli. The food is done in the kitchen. Take Lili in to get some." Feliciano grabbed Lili's arm and they hurried in to give the two men some time to talk.

The Austrian aristocrat grimaced, "That was embarrassing."

"Tell me about it."

... "Only the getting caught part."

"Right. The rest of it wasn't bad."

"Wasn't bad?"

"Sad but true."

"I haven't done anything like that with Elizabeta in the longest time."

"Then why did you marry her?"

"Family issues. My parents didn't like the idea of a gay heir."

Vash huffed and sat in a nearby chair, "Then this could ruin you."

Roderich sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room, "Not if nobody finds out."

"You clearly don't understand what just happened." Vash growled, "We just got caught."

"By a six-year-old and a fifteen-year-old."

"Lili won't tell anyone. But will Feliciano?"

Roderich sighed, "I'm not sure. He might think Elizabeta deserves to know. I can tell he understands the situation, he just might not care."

"Then we'll have to wait and see, won't we?"

"I guess so."

Roderich just started to grasp how deep of shit he was in when he heard the door creak open. He sat up in his bed, "Elizabeta?"

"No, just me." Feliciano jumped up on the bed, "Mrs. Hedervary won't be happy."

"I know."

Feliciano sat in silence, then said, "I could always not tell her."

Roderich smiled, "I would appreciate that."

It had gotten cold enough that Vash needed the coat he had bought, so he put it on and opened the door. He was about to leave when he heard little footsteps coming to the living room from Lili's.

"Vash..." Lilli whispered, "What's going to happen to me?"

Vash turned to face her, "What made you think something will?"

Lili shrugged, "I don't know... I just feel like... If someone finds out..." She started to cry, "Someone will take me away."

Her brother took off his coat and embraced her, "Shh. It's alright, you're safe with me. No one's going to take you away."

"Promise?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, Lili, but I have to work."

Before Vash could slip out the door, Lili piped up, "Vash?"

He looked at her, "Yes?"

"Where do you work?"

Vash exhaled, "You don't want to know."

Two months later...

Roderich hurried through the doors to his house. Though it was uncharacteristic of him to do so, he discovered something that might benefit Feliciano. It turned out that his brother had been adopted by a man named Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo, and Roderich was sure that if they asked him nicely, Feli could see his brother again.

He opened the door to Feli's room, only to find him crying and Elizabeta's arms around him.

"Roderich... You've been cheating on me? I could tell you met Mr. Zwingli under questionable circumstances, but I never thought..."

The affair had been going on for two months now. He knew this would happen eventually, he just chose to ignore it. Until now.

"Elizabeta, please let me explain."

She stood up, "I don't think so. I'm leaving, Roderich. And I'm taking Feli with me."

As the door opened to the Zwingli residence, Vash knew that something wasn't right. He had been paranoid ever since he got involved with Roderich, but this felt far more real. He realized it even further when he saw Lili crying on the couch, with an unfamiliar woman next to her.

The woman stood up, "Are you Lili's legal guardian?"

"I am." Vash answered, hostile.

"My name is Katyusha Braginskaya. I'm a social worker."

"What is a social worker doing here?"

Katyusha hesitated, as if she really didn't want to say, "I've been hearing some rumors about you being in a less than legal line of work, and that you had an affair with a very important man in this city, Roderich Edelstein. Is this true?"

Vash sighed and nodded, knowing he couldn't lie.

She bowed her head, "I'm sorry, sir, but that-that makes you unfit to take care of Lili."

Vash got angry at this, "I did what I had to do to make enough for both of us to survive on!"

"I understand that, but-"

"I can take care of her."

"Not if a jury says you can't." Katyusha tried to remain objective, "I'm sorry, Vash, but I have to put Lili into the system."

"No!" Lili cried and clung onto Vash, "Please don't let her take me."

"I can't stop her."

"You have to!"

"Lili," Vash took her hands in his, "I promise I'll fix this as soon as I can. Until then, you have to leave."

She looked so small as she trembled, "I love you, big brother." And she let Katyusha lead her out the door.

The now alone man sat on his couch, knowing his sister wouldn't be coming back.

Author's Note:

And that's that. Thanks to MoonSong7 for requesting. I hope you liked it, and sorry it took so long!

Speaking of which, obviously you shouldn't expect regular updates from me. I'll try as hard as I can, but inspiration just doesn't come to me as easily anymore, so chapters will be cranking out a little slower. There shouldn't ever be as long of a hiatus as this again, though. But, again, I apologize. See you next chapter!