There was a knock on his door and Matthew looked up from where he was bent over his suitcase. A handsome albino Nation was standing shyly in the doorway. Matt smiled and invited him inside. Prussia came closer but still looked unsure.
"Gilbert? Something the matter?" Matthew asked, concerned. Seeing his friend shy was such a rare experience it immediately caused alarm bells to ring in Matt's head.
"Nah, why would there be any matter with the awesome me!" Gilbert puffed up but Matt just stared at him knowingly and he deflated. For a minute he just stood there in silence, weighing his decision. "It's just... Greenland, you know?" he said finally.
Matthew's brow furrowed. What happened to Greenland was unfortunate, but history certainly saw worse occurrences.
"It was very shocking" he admitted carefully. "After all she's always been very proud of her dams."
Gilbert closed the door behind himself and fidgeted. "That's not it..." he said and then stopped, visibly torn. Matt waited patiently. Finally the albino made his decision. "Denmark will probably clue everybody in anyway but... I want you to know from me. It wasn't an accident." he said seriously.
Matthew frowned. "What do you mean? And how can you know that?" he asked flabbergasted.
"Because my people did it." Gilbert admitted.
"What?" Canada hissed completely shocked and swiftly turning to anger. Prussia wasn't a bad man! For gods' sake, Matthew wouldn't have went and gotten a crush on him if he were because bad people were an immediate turn-off for the blonde. And now he's standing right there and admitting to having something to do with harming Greenland and Denmark? How could that be! "Explain." he demanded stiffly.
Gilbert sighed tiredly and brushed his hand through his silvery hair. "It's the neo-nazis. West and I are trying to weed them out so we're keeping a close eye on them. A while back they decided it was time to get some 'justice' and punish those who protected Jews during the second World War." he explained and his voice rang with regret. Matthew listened attentively.
"I thought they would try with Poland first, you know? But they turned towards Denmark instead. West and I, we kept them from succeeding in any of their attempts at retribution and finally everything stopped. We thought they gave up... turns out we were wrong." Gilbert sighed sitting heavily on Matthew's bed.
"How did they manage to evade you?" Canada asked.
"They somehow left the country and got in contact with someone who was willing to help them. Before you ask, I have no idea how they managed to almost completely fall off the map and who helped them. When the dam burst on Greenland West renewed their case and managed to track them all the way to Russia. That's all I know." he finished hunched over with elbows resting on his knees. He hid his face in his palms and his upset was radiating from him in thick waves.
Matthew, meanwhile, took in what he has been told. It was a lot, considering the implications of some things – like how the group managed to slip through both the Germans' fingers.
Then he looked at Prussia, sitting there forlornly, and smiled. His people-reading skills haven't been wrong; Prussia, Gilbert, really was a decent sort of person. What was more, he trusted Matthew with this knowledge; came here and shared it with him because he wanted him to know first, from himself. Canada felt his heart beating a little faster as this realization sunk in.
"Thank you for telling me, Gil." he said gently. Prussia looked up at him and hesitated briefly before putting his hand on Gilbert's broad shoulder. "Sounds like we've got a serious case on our hands but we'll make it alright, you'll see."
Prussia blinked once and then his lips stretched in that big grin of his. "Sure I know! We're awesome, after all!" he exclaimed.
"Great! And now, if you would be so kind and let me finish packing?" Matthew grinned back.
Suddenly the air around Prussia went heavy with promise as he said "Maybe I could help you?" saucily. Canada gaped at him, speechless, and Gilbert broke character, laughing madly. "Kesesesese~! Your face!" Prussia could still be heard cackling as he sauntered down the hallway, leaving Canada decidedly flustered.
They were all packing because as soon as Denmark had formulated his plan of action, he called Canada, remembering his offer of help, and telling him only that there was hope of catching the perpetrators but the Nordics would be grateful for reinforcements. A discussion among Matthew and his guests revealed that, just as Norway had predicted, everybody was very willing to chime in however they could to help a fellow Nation, especially since the wounded one was a child.
Everyone, that is, except Portugal, who said that it wasn't the first and certainly not the last terrorist attack in the history and he had his own problems, without taking on somebody else's. Matthew tried not to fault him for this attitude, remembering the fact that it was hard to care for other people while having your heart broken. Which reminded him, that the plan of finding out what or who broke João's and how to fix it would have to go on the back burner. It was a decidedly less pressing of a matter than stopping terrorists though, so Matthew didn't feel all that bad about it.
And so Canada, Romano, Spain and Prussia were getting ready for the long flight that would take them from Matthew's place to Denmark, where the Nordics would explain the situation fully, as Mattias refrained from doing so on the phone, and they would get to personally indulge in some good old espionage. At least that's what Matthew thought they would do, considering the fact that the terrorists' contact's info was clandestine.
The Canadian Nation finished packing relatively fast and brought his baggage down to the front hall where Prussia's things already were stacked in a neat pile. They only had to wait a couple of minutes for Spain and Romano to come dragging their own things, and Portugal. Then they were all ready to go.
From his house Matthew took them to the airport, where a privet jet was waiting. There were undeniable pros to being the most important, well, being in a country and on the account of not wasting time (and indulging himself and his friends in some comfort – everybody likes traveling in comfort, if they say they don't they're lying) Canada told his people to ready his own plane.
They said goodbye to Portugal, who was catching a regular flight back to his own place, and climbed into the waiting jet. The attendants took their baggage and put it away and the Nations were left to enjoy the luxuries provided on board, among which chief place took sinfully comfortable seats and, later on, some nice food and drink.
All in all it was a very nice journey, spent on talking, eating, Romano cussing at Prussia for his stupid innuendos and at Spain for being an overly-affectionate idiot that laughed at said innuendos. It was obvious that Gilbert was more joking than making a real effort but still Matthew had to fight to keep his cool when the albino concentrated his fake flirting on him. Fake it might have been but there was still that underlying emotion that colored all that happened between the two that told Matt that it was more than just fun among two friends.
Of course when Lovino or Antonio butted in the teasing became so outrageous that Matthew didn't know if he should laugh or groan. They finally quieted down after about two hours and just relaxed for a while. When they finally requested food the conversation sparked anew, this time about cooking, but it was much more calm and civil.
At one time Matthew must have actually nodded off, lulled by the murmur of their voices barely heard above the hum of the engines, and the pleasant feeling of having a full stomach and being totally relaxed and comfortable. He jerked awake at the clink of someone's glass put down on the table and straightened slowly, feeling blood rush into his cheeks. He was still sprawled all over his seat on the sofa but falling asleep he had unconsciously leaned into the closest heat source sitting next to him – Gilbert, and his head had landed on the man's shoulder.
Spain and Romano were absent – apparently they decided to go explore other parts of the jet, as Gilbert explained, giving him a soft, reassuring smile. That smile made Canada's pulse quicken because it was Gilbert baring his soul, something so rare and precious Matt felt honored it was for him.
He sat back fully on his own seat but turned so that he was facing his companion, and still a bit embarrassed said "Sorry for that" ducking his head to his the flush on his cheeks.
"No worries, Birdie." Gilbert's eyes shone with good humour and affection. "You've got some truly heavenly stuff here, these seats are awesome. I was beginning to feel a little drowsy myself." he said easily.
"Oh, that's... thanks." Canada said, fumbling. "I'll try not to do, y'know, that anymore. It must have been pretty uncomfortable for you..." he bit his lip. Gilbert's eyes fell to his mouth for a second before they went back up to meet with Matthew's.
"It was actually very nice." Prussia said, his crimson eyes proving his honesty. "You're welcome to come back." he smiled, but then the smile slid off his face. "After all in just a few hours we'll be dealing with who knows what kind of shit and half of that is my fault. I'll be happy to begin and make it up to you by being your personal pillow. It would truly be my pleasure." he said.
Matthew's heart swelled. This, this was a blatant invitation. He was now more than half sure that Gilbert was interested in him and it made him so happy because the man was a great friend and he had a feeling he'd make an awesome boyfriend.
But he also caught the self-recrimination bit and decided, therefore, to kill two birds with one stone: in a fit of bravery he quickly leaned forward and pecked Gilbert's chick, retreating just as fast. "It's not your fault what they're doing. Got that?" Gilbert could only nod dumbly, apparently completely caught off guard, which was a funny look on him, his eyes huge and splotches of pink high on his cheeks, an endearing sight, so Matthew suppressed a grin and continued with "And as for the pillow duty, you know, I think I may just take you up on that."
And then he kicked his boots off and curled up fully on the sofa, leaning against the albino Nation with most of his body. Finally, it seemed to kick-start Prussia's brain back into work and he shifted a little, so that they both would be comfortable putting his arm around Matthew, bringing him closer into his warmth and leaning down to whisper hoarsely "Thanks, Birdie, glad you think so." into his hair and kiss the top of his blond head gently.
When Lovino and Antonio came back after their very nice trip around the plane (and special tour of the bathroom – they've already joined the mile high club awhile back but why not do it again?), they found their friends wrapped around each other on the sofa, both sleeping peacefully.
Lovino tried to be upset about the fact that his best friend choose the older potato bastard to be with, but really it's been obvious they would end up like that all along and anyway they really did look cute together, so he only rolled his eyes and shushed Toni's cooing lest he woke them before time.
When Denmark and Sweden found them at the airport, Canada and Prussia were sitting atop their pile of luggage and holding hands.
/txtbreak/
I had a plan you guys. This was not a part of this plan. Godsdamnit why does this thing have it's own mind?!
So anyway this was kind of a filler chapter since nothing regarding our plot happened but we'll be coming back to that in the next chapter, promise. For now enjoy PruCan :D
Thank you guys, for reading and leaving me your reviews (reviews are like the best kind of hugs for me, really) and liking this story and to all those that followed it recently - welcome guys and I hope you're going to have fun :)