Flowers for Balaton, an Axis Powers: Hetalia/RDNA-verse Fanfiction

(Chapter 7: Forgive Me…)

Neu Wein, Royal Dominion of New Austria, April, 2023…

"I thought you died alone, a long, long time ago… Oh no, not me… I never lost control. You're face to face… With the man who sold the world…"

Marcus couldn't quite figure out where he was. One of the last things he could remember was being on the receiving end of a bullet and drifting in and out of consciousness."Maybe I've finally lost of the fucking plot…" he mused to himself.

Marcus looked over to his Walkman, which was playing some old Pre-Doomsday synth music. He stopped the tape and slowly eased himself upright on the couch he was laying on. He suddenly felt a jabbing pain in his shoulder, only then to realise that he was shirtless and had a bandage wrapped around his torso.

Marcus glanced over to a sleeping Claude; it seemed that the Liechtensteiner had fallen asleep while watching over him. Marcus grabbed his jacket and Walkman, along with a spare t-shirt that he'd packed, leaving his glasses and neatly folded undershirt on the table next to him. After managing to take a bullet only a few hours prior, Marcus felt famished and lethargic, he needed something to eat, even if he was seriously injured.

He knew of a few nearby takeaway establishments that he'd passed when he and Claude had dropped their belongings off at the safehouse they were staying at. Even though Claude and the higher ups wouldn't approve of his behaviour, it wouldn't hurt to get a bite to eat, would it?

Marcus grabbed a nearby pen and paper and wrote down a short message to Claude, if he ever woke up when he was away. He then plugged in the bulky set of headphones and switched the tape around before leaving the safehouse.

The streets of Neu Wein were packed, even this early in the morning. The multi-lingual melting pot that was the RNDA was thrusted right into Marcus's face as the sensory overload nearly overwhelmed him as he stumbled out onto the pathway.

It reminded him of his first trip to the Commonwealth to meet his Uncle, who'd managed to survive the nuking of Sydney and was living in Brisbane, where most of the American and Chinese communities were residing.

Marcus eventually adjusted to the glaring tropical sun and the loud bustling crowds of people. as he started to walk to a nearby döner kebab establishment. The smell of roasting meat and the constant usage of Turkish from the staff brought back memories of that one shop that he used to frequent in Berlin.

Marcus ordered a chicken kebab that had enough hot sauce caked on it to kill a normal human being. He sat down at a nearby chair and started eating his meal as he noticed a familiar face walk into the building.

Marcus's RDNA counterpart was perusing over the menu, probably wanting to order the same thing as he had, thankfully he put his name down as 'Wilhelm Mueller', which he'd used in the past for getting through certain situations.

His counterpart walked over to the cashier as he ordered his kebab, not noticing that Marcus was watching him from a distance, all the while chewing on his own kebab. He overheard one of the cashiers talking with his counterpart, mentioning something about his resemblance to 'the strange looking New Austrian'.

"Verdammt…" Marcus muttered to himself as his counterpart walked past him, who was giving him an odd look as the Prussian was too busy internally screaming. "Remember your cover!" He flashed the younger man a nervous grin just as he managed to stabilize his various arguing personas.

"Can I help you…? Monsieur?" Marcus's RNDA counterpart sat down at the table as the other Marcus was attempting to collect his wits. "I'm fine, just trying to stay awake…" Marcus chuckled nervously as he yawned for a moment.

"Tell me about it, I've had the odd amount of sleepless nights lately…" the young Canadian replied as he sipped from a cup of coffee. Marcus noticed a lot of Quebecoisinfluences in the young man. It seemed that his family had survived the Red Invasion of Britain after all, but had fled to Canada in the process…

"Come to think of it… I think I remember seeing you at that bar last night…" Marcus's counterpart looked at him suspiciously as he chewed on his kebab. "I could say the same about you too…" Marcus finished his kebab as the pair looked at each other for a few seconds.

"I just came here from New Africa a few days ago for work related reasons…" Marcus's Canadian counterpart nodded as he accepted his lie, not knowing his true, if somewhat misguided intentions.
"I see. I guess that being that long on a plane for that long would definitely make someone thirsty for a pint or two…" his counterpart smiled, knowing what it was like to travel. Marcus was distracted by his discussion with the young man to notice a familiar looking blonde walk into the building.

"Gut morgen, leiben~" the girl smiled as she rested her head on his counterpart's shoulder, making him blush. Marcus couldn't help but give him a sympathetic smile, knowing that his version of Lina did similar things… "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Lina Worth-Ackerman."

The girl waved at him as she whispered something in his counterpart's ear before walking to the cashier to probably order some breakfast. "She's a nice lass; descended from French nobility, or so I've heard… Her parents work with the Swiss Revivalist movement, although both of us have intersecting jobs with the AWF, so we get sent of assignments a lot, usually together." Marcus's counterpart smiled as he finished off his cup of coffee.

"Must be pretty hectic, working as a diplomat… Not that I'd know of course." Marcus chuckled as his counterpart nodded in agreement. Marcus checked his watch for a moment, "Shit… Claude's gonna kill me…" he internally cringed as he managed to keep a composed façade.

"I apologise for leaving so soon, but one of my associates is expecting to see me very, very soon" Marcus grinned as his counterpart looked at him with an understanding look. "I understand, Dha weles diwettha" he nodded as Marcus got out of his seat, grabbing what he thought was his wallet.

"Dha weles skon…" Marcus muttered under his breath as he walked over to the cashier to pay for his meal. He flipped through his wallet, only to find an old black and white photo of his cousin, Frankie, albeit slightly younger. He knew that he never had a photo of her in his wallet, but what was odd about it was the writing, scrawled in black marker. "Where are you…?" the text read. The unknown meaning of which perplexed Marcus even more.

He knew that South Africa had fallen to a fascist-esque regime sometime during the early 20th Century, despite not being able to pinpoint the date, due to him falling asleep halfway through a university lecture when he was in the UK.

Despite having a bout of insomnia in that seemingly crucial moment, he did manage to pick something up about the nation being taken over by the Reds around a decade ago. Marcus thought that Frankie was living in Canada, but it seemed that it wasn't the case…

He immediately felt sorry for his counterpart, not knowing whether his beloved cousin was alive or not probably had put a considerable weight on his shoulders, and the rushed handwriting on the back of the photograph certainly proved it.

"Monsieur, I do apologise, but we seem to have a bit of a mix-up going on…" Marcus was startled when he saw his counterpart holding his wallet in his right hand; the young Quebecois was more shocked when he saw Marcus holding the photo of Frankie.

"G-give that to me, now, dammit!" he stuttered as Marcus quickly handed over the photo and wallet, with his counterpart handing over his. "I'm sorry… It must be hard for your, whatever's happened to her, I am truly sorry, Herr Wright"

"I accept your apology… Now, I must be with my lover…" Marcus walked over to his version of Lina and sat down. He looked like he was on the verge of breaking down… Marcus quickly exited the building with numerous questions flooding his head, mainly about what had happened to this timeline's version of Frankie, but he was more interested in getting back to the safehouse before Claude woke up…

The Agent eventually made his way to the safehouse. Marcus, who was almost out of breath from running the whole distance from the kebab restaurant, opened the door of the safehouse to meet the gaze of one Claude von Falkenburg.

Marcus froze for a moment, trying to say something to the older Agent as Claude sighed. "I was going to go look for you…" the Liechtensteiner kept the door open for Marcus, signalling him to enter.

"…But since you decided to show up, and without any serious injuries, you may as well come in, Marcus…" Claude continued as his fellow Agent entered the house, leaving Claude to close the door behind him. "Danke…" Marcus smiled for a moment before easing himself down onto a chair.

"I managed to talk to my counterpart; he's an interesting guy…" Marcus said as Claude looked at him. "Hopefully that cover story worked out for you." Marcus nodded in confirmation as he took his jacket off, revealing the bandages and pressure pad that were covering the wound.

Marcus sighed for a moment; the wound brought back memories of his savage attack on Alfred a few hours prior. "I know it wasn't your fault… The higher-ups aren't going to know about this; otherwise our operations in this universe could be ceased, permanently" Claude looked at Marcus as he adjusted the dressing, causing Marcus to wince in pain.

"As far as Alfred and Matthew know, they were attack by a drunkard who was just roaming the streets…" Marcus nodded in confirmation. "The less they hear, the better…" he huffed. "I might as well stay here and try to let this wound heal… I probably won't be hungry until dinner…"

Claude nodded. "I'm not going anywhere; I guess we can talk about you-know-who again..."
"I heard that!" Claude was taken by surprise when he noticed Roza standing behind him. "We're both ashamed of our actions, Claude. We certainly need to talk…"

-0-

"Marcus! We have to get going!" a familiar voice yelled out. Marcus's RNDA counterpart had just managed to settle down for a good night's sleep, only to be interrupted by an odd dream. He looked around in confusion as his cousin was dragging him through the streets of a city that he didn't recognise.

"Where the fuck am I?!" he thought to himself. Marcus had no control over the body, being forced to watch through the eyes of his Doomsday-verse counterpart. His cousin stopped dragging him as a large crowd of people came into view. The crowds were waving odd versions of the Union Jack as a rather elegant looking limousine drove past with a middle aged man sticking the upper half of his body out of said car and waving at the crowd.

"God save the King!" Marcus heard some people in the crowd chant, with Frankie being among them. The whole crowd was cheering for what Marcus assumed was their monarch, although this version of Frankie was different, compared to the photos that he'd seen of her in the past.

Marcus certainly felt out of place, possibly seeing through the eyes of what could be another past life of his… He'd always been fearful of his sanity when he was around others, along with his somewhat depressed state as he tried to discover whether his cousin was alive or not.

"Are you alright, Marcus?" Francine looked at her cousin, who'd seemingly zoned out for a few minutes. "I'm fine, Frankie" Marcus replied. His RNDA counterpart noted how odd his accent sounded, kind of like a British accent with a few subtle hints of Prussian German hidden somewhere…

"Off with the faeries again?" the Afrikaner giggled as Marcus smiled back at her as he rolled his eyes. "Well… It's great to see you again, Frankie, it really is…" he smiled at the older woman as she did the same. "It was great seeing you too, cousin" she smiled and pulled him into a hug as Marcus felt his grip on reality slipping away…

-0-

"Marcus, wake up!" Lina shook her lover as he slowly awoke from the weird dream he'd just had. "What is it, love?" he sighed as he looked into the young New Austrian's eyes, the dream had felt so real.

"You must've been dreaming about Frankie again… It's alright, Marcus, I'm here for you…" Lina sighed as she pulled her lover into a tight hug, hoping to stop another breakdown. "Thank you…" the Canadian sighed as he gave Lina a quick kiss on the cheek.

"She's still out there, Lina… I know she is. Even if she's been kidnapped by those fucking Reds…" Marcus snapped as he heard a familiar voice whispering in his subconsciousness, trying to calm him as another voice countered with more malicious thoughts.

"Stay calm, leiben…" Lina sighed as she held Marcus's hand. It seemed that it would be a long night for the pair, and a very, very stressful night at that…