Weapon Frayer; These notes are coming in on Friday (in my time zone), so note that this is VERY rushed.

Also, one of my favorite songs ever is coming in the next chapter! 'Guess Laurel's OTP' has been greenlighted for another season!

(I am also relying on Laurel to update this, as to not disappoint our UK readers, so please get this in as soon as you can!)

Right, so don't forget to R&R, favorite and follow, and DFTBA!

Laurel Silver; and... *update*

Note of pairings; GerIta, and polygamous!Nordics. We need more polygamous ships. And some platonic DenGer, because we need more platonic ships, too. Think outside the box a little, people, us Hetlians have so much to work with.

[I won't give up, Jason Mraz]

Ten months have passed since Gilbert's arrest. Elizabeta landed the job at Gina's Diner, and moved out of Vladimir's condo into a small, one-bedroom flat she can afford well.

The sun rises from behind the courthouse, making it a glow a bright orange like a star fallen to the earth. Elizabeta enters almost as soon as the doors open, determined. For the past few months, she has been trying to get the state legislature to clear Gilbert's name, to get them to understand that the 'evidence' making Gilbert appear to be Ivan Braginski is weak and useless and most importantly wrong, but so far they've been ignoring her and turning the legislature down, Detective Jones being far too powerful for Elizabeta to fight. But Elizabeta isn't someone who will walk away so easily; she's determined to stay and make the difference she can.

"They turned it down, again?"

The receptionist, a man with long brunette hair tied in a bunch with a ribbon and glitter stickers on his name tag 'Toris', just smiles sadly. "They threw it out as soon as they saw the name. They said there's no point reading the same thing again. I'm sorry, Miss Hedervary, but whatever you're fighting for is a lost cause."

"My boyfriend is not a lost cause!" Elizabeta snaps, making Toris jump, "He has been falsely accused, and I will clear his name!"

Toris nods in frightened agreement, and, with a punch to his desktop before she turns away, Elizabeta storms out of the courthouse, the paperwork to her case crumpling into illegibility in her tensing hands.

[Sober, P!nk]

Wrigleyville Bar is only three blocks away. It's run-down and could do with several things updating including the furniture and the cash register, but it's cheap and that's all that matters to most of it's regulars.

The bar-tender is a small man with a terrible tremble to his work-calloused hands and a heavy Slavic accent; Latvian he says. He talks little of his past, or what causes him to shake the way he does, or as to why he drinks more alcohol than he hands out, or how he can run a business consuming more of his product than he sells. He's good at remembering people's drinks, though, and pulls a shot of pálinker as she sits down at the bar.

"Turned down again?" he asks plainly.

"Yep," Elizabeta answers equally plainly.

Of course the bartender, Raivis his name is, knows about Gilbert. He's supported her at four o'clock in the morning when she's broken down in agony and just needed a friend. Without Raivis, Elizabeta would be alone in Chicago without someone to vent to. A little sad that it's the bartender she's befriended; puts the current state of her life into perspective, but Elizabeta doesn't like to dwell on it. Raivis might not be much of a talker, but he's a great listener.

[The Boys Are Back In Town, by Thin Lizzy]

Two hands, bent into two-fingered pistols, dig into Elizabeta's sides just below her ribs, and she jumps in shock. Matthias leans around, grinning, and straightens up on the stool next to Elizabeta. Ludwig takes the seat on her other side, ordering a pint of beer, preferably German, and a pint of lager, preferably Danish, for the idiot with the big hair, said idiot with the big hair flipping Ludwig the bird.

"What are you two doing here?" Elizabeta asks, shocked to see them both. The last time she'd seen the wild-eyed boys was back at the 7-11 as she'd finished her last course, a first-aid course, that the three of them had aced. At the time, Ludwig had had a crush on the youngest of the Vargas quadruplets, whom he had met at a Christmas party Elizabeta and Gilbert had held, and Matthias had been struggling with his own heart pining after four different people. Of course, Elizabeta had been keeping up with the nature of their relationships, but after their contact had been completely severed, she couldn't.

"We were headed here, to Chicago, for this awesome concert, and then we got this phone call saying we need to try the Wrigleyville bar," Matthias explains, "Some weird Slavic guy, saying the alcohol was cheap. So here we are, because alcohol."

"And what about you?" Ludwig asks, "What are you doing here?"

"I come here a lot," Elizabeta admits, "Most days, actually, after getting Gilbert's appeal turned down again."

"Wait, what?" Ludwig asks, completely confused.

"You don't know?" Elizabeta asks. Ludwig shakes his head, and Matthias frowns. "He was arrested. Like, ten months ago."

"What in the hell for?" Ludwig demands, voice beginning to climb in volume.

"He was drunk-"

"Of course he was," Matthias interrupts with a laugh.

"And he got into a fight with a policeman. Then this detective came to the conclusion that he's this notorious Mafioso and slammed him away almost immediately."

"Well, that escalated quickly," Matthias deadpans as Ludwig can only stare.

Ludwig seems to glaze over, muttering to himself in German into his beer. Matthias drinks his lager slowly, Elizabeta downs her pálinka and orders another.

"So apart from Gilbert getting himself arrested, how's your life been?" Matthias asks.

"Pretty shit," Elizabeta answers bluntly, "What about yours?"

"Meh," Matthias says vaguely with a non-committal hand wiggle, "There's been good things, there's been bad things."

"Your quartered heart?" Elizabeta asks.

"Still in quarters, but together," Matthias answers. As Elizabeta frowns at him, he explains; "Ever heard of polygamy? It turned out one of the guys I liked, Tino, also liked Berwald, one of the other guys I liked, and then he was like "Ever heard of polygamy? Let's have an orgy!" So now I'm kinda with all four of them. And it's fucking awesome."

Elizabeta pulls a face, downs her pálinka and orders another.

"Ludwig got with little Vargas, too," Matthias says, "Proposed just a few months ago. They're gonna get married in Massachusetts. We didn't think we were gonna see you again in time to give you an invite, but here you are. I don't have an invite. Fuck. We've got some in the car, if you're interested."

"Of course I'm interested," Elizabeta says, "Weddings are the cutest. Raivis;" she downs the pálinka.

"You can't come if you're just going to get drunk," Matthias scolds, "I know I drink a lot. but that's four shots you've just had in under five minutes; that can't be healthy."

"Get off me," Elizabeta snaps as Matthias takes her by the arm, Ludwig snapping out of his trance to confiscate the fresh shot, glaring a warning to Raivis, making the small Latvian tremble in fear, not that that takes a lot.

The sharp slap rings through the room as Matthias reels back, falling to the floor.

"We need to get you home," Ludwig says quietly.

"Okay, Gil," Elizabeta answers. She falls asleep on Ludwig's shoulder as he carries her out, Matthias tossing a small collection of notes at Raivis before he follows them.

Weapon Frayer; So...that was kind of uncalled for. [LS; sorry. Ish. It was necessary.]

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it! DFTBA!

Laurel Silver; Gay marriage became legal in Massachusettes in 1980, so here time is 'making sense'

Ludwig and Matthias here are friends from the 7-11, who now often go to concerts and/or drinking together. They also eat lots of potatoes together. Whoo, stereotypes!

We own nothing