Ludwig's blood turned to ice water in his veins, and he could feel himself grow pale. He looked up slowly, his eyes meeting Lovino's equally horrified green ones. It made sense now. The limping, the bruises on her arms where that.. that vile creature must have held her down, the sudden suicidal twist, they all fell into place. The fragile, pretty girl had been defiled, her innocence robbed. Anger built in his body until his hands shook with rage, and only Felicia's tenuous grip on his hand kept him from doing something he knew he would regret.
He pulled out his cell phone, dialing with shaking hands, and pressing the mobile device to his ear. Kiku was watching him, and Ludwig could feel Lovino's eyes on him as well as he waited in terse silence for his call to be answered.
"Dude... Lud? Where are you, bruderlein?" Gilbert sounded worried already. "Your boss called and said you left early."
"I'm at Felicia's." Ludwig bit the words off, his tone curt. "Gil, I can't leave her here... where is Opa? Is he passed out yet?"
"Ja, he's been out for an hour." Gilbert said. "I'm sending Isabel to get you, okay?"
"Danke." Ludwig said softly, hanging up the phone. He turned to Lovino and saw appreciation in the older student's eyes. "You can come too, Lovino."
"No way in hell. I'm sure your house smells like sauerkraut and wurst, and someone will need to tell our... guardians where Feli disappeared to." Despite the insults, Lovino's eyes were grateful to Ludwig for removing Felicia from the situation, if only temporarily.
Felicia tugged on Ludwig's hand to get his attention, and he looked down at her. Her honey eyes were tired, her face still too pale. "I'm going to Luddy's home?" she asked in a tired whisper.
"Ja, that's right." Ludwig said, kneeling next to her and putting a hand on hers. "I'm taking you home with me so you won't get hurt again."
"What about your grandfather...?" Felicia asked softly. "If he finds out..."
"Leave that to me." Ludwig said, sounding more confident than he felt.
Felicia merely nodded in response and looked up at the ceiling. A few tears ran into her hair, and Ludwig knew that the Italian girl had been hurt in ways he could never imagine, ways that she may never recover from. He squeezed her hand gently, wishing that he could comfort her, knowing that there was no comfort he could give.
Her voice startled him. "Luddy?" she whispered.
"Ja?"
"Tell me about your parents... please. I want to know..." she turned her sad, imploring eyes on him.
Ludwig hesitated. The sting of his parents' deaths was still sharp and clear, a throbbing pain in his heart. After a moment, he nodded slightly. She, who had been through so many horrible things, deserved to know the horrors that he himself had borne.
"It was my birthday." he said softly, his voice a low rumble. "Vati and Mutti took me out to dinner, to this really fantastic restaurant that we rarely got to go to because of the cost. Gilbert was going to come, but he had woken up with a fever, so they decided to leave him at home and let it be just the three of us. When we were on our way home, a car coming from the opposite direction smashed into us head on. The car flipped, and Mutti and I were thrown from the car. We weren't wearing our seatbelts, you know? Mutti got right up, but Vati was badly hurt. He hit his head really hard and got cut up pretty bad. The doctors told Gil and I later that Vati's femoral artery had been severed, and Mutti and I couldn't do anything. He bled out while Mutti called for an ambulance.
"I thought we'd make it, Mutti and I. I thought we were both okay. But Mutti started to cough and throw up blood. It was the scariest thing to watch. She just kept throwing up blood and coughing blood and her nose was bleeding and there was so much blood everywhere by the time she passed out..." Ludwig had to stop for a moment, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "She was still alive when we got to the hospital. The doctors gave her more blood, but she was bleeding on the inside... They took her to surgery, and she died on the table. I came through almost completely unharmed, other than some bruising and road rash."
There was silence for a long time after Ludwig finished speaking, his hands now trembling with grief instead of anger. Lovino and Kiku were looking at him with such a sad look, and Felicia had started to cry again.
"Oh, you poor thing..." she whispered. Her hand floated up to his cheek and he held it there, feeling the scratchy gauze on his skin. "Poor bambino..." she said softly, and Ludwig realized for the first time that he was younger than her.
"I am sorry, Ludwig-san." Kiku said, politely bowing. Even Lovino gave a respectful nod.
Ludwig looked down at his hands, not knowing what to say and barely willing to speak, afraid that if he did so then he would start to cry. Luckily, his phone pinged then. He snatched up the device and read the messgae.
"Isabel is here." he announced, standing. "I'll carry you, Felicia." he said to the Italian girl.
She nodded, weak from blood loss. "Thank you..." she whispered.
He bent down, working his arms under Felicia's back and under her knees, lifting her bridal style and holding her close. As he expected, the girl seemed to weigh next to nothing, and she snuggled against his chest.
From somewhere upstairs in the house, a door opened.
"Fuck!" Lovino cursed quietly. "You have to get out of here now!" he said urgently, pushing at Ludwig. "Go go gogogogo!"
Ludwig booked it up the stairs and out the front door, Kiku following close behind. Lovino stopped at the doorway, his green eyes watching them.
"Ludwig." he said.
"Ja?"
Lovino hesitated. "I feel a sense of foreboding... So... tell Isabel that I've liked her since I met her, okay? Just in case." the Italian boy said, his cheeks flushing in the porch light. Ludwig nodded and ducked into the car with Kiku. At the house, Lovino shut the door.
"Drive quickly." Ludwig ordered of Isabel, and she did so, peeling away from the curb and driving fast.
"What happened to her, Ludwig?" Isabel asked of Felicia, eyeing them in the rearview mirror. "Does she need to go to the hospital?"
"Nein." Ludwig said firmly. "Just take us to Opa's. Please." he added as an afterthought, realizing how bossy he had sounded. Isabel cast him a look in the rearview mirror but nodded, driving the three to Ludwig's house, where Gilbert was waiting on the front porch. Anxiety was clear in his eyes a Ludwig lifted Felicia out of the car.
"Thank you so much, Isabel." Gilbert said fervently, leaning through the open window and kissing the Spanish woman on the cheek. "I really owe you one."
"I'm just glad I could help." Isabel said, her normally cheerful eyes grave. "I won't question things now, but you owe my answers, Gil."
"Deal." Gilbert said softly.
"Oh, Isabel!" Ludwig said, remembering what he was supposed to be passing on. "Lovino said... he said that he's liked you since he first met you." Ludwig recited, and saw the surprise and blush on the woman's face. "Drive safe, Isabel."
"Take care of her." Isabel said as she pulled out of the driveway.
As she drove away, Gilbert ushered Kiku, Ludwig, and Felicia inside. He saw the bandages on Felicia's wrists, but didn't say anything after Ludwig gave him a warning glare. Instead, they headed upstairs, and Ludwig gently lay Felicia in his bed.
"Get some sleep." He instructed gently.
Felicia gave him the most pleading, heart wrenching puppy dog eyes ever, and she whimpered pathetically. "Lay with me?" she asked.
God damn, as if he could refuse that look. Ludwig kicked off his shoes and crawled on the bed, staying on top of the covers while ensuring that they covered Felicia adequately. He lay on his side, head propped on his hand, facing out into the room with his back against the wall. She snuggled close to him, sighing softly as she drifted off to sleep.
Ludwig raised his eyes, seeing Gil sitting on his bed and Kiku standing rather awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Feel free to sit." Ludwig said to the Japanese boy, who nodded politely and sat gingerly on the edge of Gilbert's bed.
"So, what happened, Lud?" Gilbert asked, speaking in a low voice to prevent waking Felicia.
"She... She got raped." Ludwig said, scowling as though the word left a bad taste in his mouth. "By her foster father. And then she tried to kill herself."
Gilbert sat bolt upright, his face whiter than his hair. "Mein Gott... Ludwig..." he breathed, clearly horrified. "Why didn't you call the cops?!"
"Because she and her brother will be separated! This home is their last chance to be in foster care together!" Ludwig explained quickly.
This shut Gilbert up. Ludwig knew the albino understood. There was a reason that they had never called the cops because of Opa beating them. Even so, he understood why Gilbert had reacted so angrily. Rape was... just plain wrong. And evil. And no one should ever have to feel as dirty and worthless as it had made Felicia feel. No one deserved that. Ludwig would have called the cops, but he knew that it was the last thing that Felicia wanted. How could she even try to cope with this without her loving brother? Even if the guy was a prick at times, he still loved his little sister dearly.
"The poor girl..." Gilbert said softly, letting out a long breath. "What of her brother?"
"Lovino is alright." Ludwig said. "He stayed at their house by choice."
"I hope that boy knows what he's doing." Gilbert said with a sigh. "You look tired, bruderlein. You should sleep."
Ludwig nodded, but he looked to Kiku instead. "You can stay here tonight, Kiku." he offered the awkward Japanese boy.
Kiku shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Ludwig-san, but I have to get home or my family will worry." he said, standing and bowing politely. "I'll show myself out. Good night, Ludwig-san and Gilbert-senpai." With that, he left.
"Weird kid." Gilbert commented once Kiku had gone. "Nice, but weird." He looked over at Ludwig. "I'm serious, Lud. Sleep."
"Ja bruder." Ludwig said obediently, resting his head on the pillow. Against his chest, Felicia gave a soft sigh as she cuddled close to him, and he hesitantly rested a hand on her as he drifted off to sleep, exhausted.
.~*~.
Morning came accompanied by a loud knocking at the bedroom door. Ludwig leapt back to consciousness, heart racing in his throat, as Gilbert stood hesitantly and went to the door, opening it just a crack. Ludwig scrambled over the still sleeping Felicia and stood to try to block Opa's view of the young maiden in his bed, worried that his grandfather would get the wrong idea.
Gilbert peeked out through the gap in the door. "Opa? What is it?" he asked, and Ludwig swallowed, worried.
"There are two police officers here." Opa's voice, firm and startlingly clear reached Ludwig's ears. "They're looking for a girl. Felicia Vargas. Is she here?"
Ludwig blinked, his fear lessened by the fact that Opa sounded... sober. Again, for the second day in a row. And he was speaking in English instead of German, a habit he only took up when he was completely sober. Gilbert looked over his shoulder at Ludwig, who nodded, and Gilbert opened the door wider.
"She's here." Ludwig said, his throat dry, still naturally fearful of his Opa.
Opa came in and looked at the girl sleeping. "Wake her up. the police want to talk to her." Was all he said on the matter, before turning on his heel and heading back downstairs.
Ludwig and Gilbert exchanged a look, before the younger brother went to Felicia, shaking her gently. She woke, blinking her lovely eyes and rubbing them with her fists as she sat up.
"Luddy." she said, her eyes lighting up just slightly when she saw him. He did his best to return her sweet, if tainted smile.
"The police need to talk to you, Fels." Ludwig said in a low voice. Immediately, her eyes widened and she began to tremble.
"I don't want to..." she whispered fearfully. Ludwig's heart went out to her, but he knew that there would be consequences if she didn't.
"I'll come with you." he promised. "Come on." he drew her gently out of bed, setting her on her feet and catching her when she wobbled.
Together, they made their way down the hallway and slowly down the stairs, taking their time and stopping occasionally when Felicia stumbled, still suffering from blood loss. Finally, they reached the living room, where two police officers sat on the couch, and Opa sat in his armchair, alert and upright instead of slumped over.
"Felicia Vargas." One cop said, standing and removing his hat. the other cop stood as well.
"Y-Yes." she trembled, clinging to Ludwig's arm.
"I am very sorry, Ms. Vargas." the police officer said, and his voice was softer, more gentle. "But your brother, Lovino Vargas, was killed last night."