"I thought you said you used to be in a gang." Matthew said, his voice calm despite the way his hands were shaking and tears were forming at the corner of his eyes. There was no malice, just simple curiousity. "Back when you used to be a naïve kid. Like me."

Gilbert paused, carefully thinking over his response while his eyes remained locked with the violet ireses before him. With the same calm tone of voice as Matthew, he responsed, "I was. I only help out the Axis when my little brother needs me to."

There was a moment of tense silence, where both of them contemplated their current situation and where this left their relationship. Francis, the third wheel, sat awkwardly in his chair and watched the pair and their unspoken staredown. Finally he asked the question that had been on his mind: "You 2 know each other?"

"Shut up, Francis!" Gilbert turned his head and spat down at him, unhappy that the moment had been interupted.

Matt, whose gun had been slowly drooping in his hands, instantly pointed the weapon towards his albino friend again. Gilbert still had the knife to his brother's throat, and Matthew had to stand up for his family while getting the truth behind Gilbert's betrayal. Was it a betrayal? Gilbert didn't seem to be angry with him, now or in the past. He had known Matthew was an Ally, and yet he still had treated him like a friend, perhaps more. So he had withheld the truth; it's not like he had used the information to destroy him. Matthew was unsure of what to think at the moment, so instead he asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It didn't matter." Gilbert said, his gaze steadied on Francis and refusing to look in the Canadian's direction.

"You knew I was part of the Allies!" Matthew yelled for once in his life, his voice suddenly desperate and high in pitch. It didn't matter? Like hell it mattered! Matthew could feel the tears spilling over in his eyes and knew he was crying. "We're on different sides: you knew this! Didn't it ever occur to you that something like... like this would happen eventually?" Matthew cleared his throat and choked back a sob, while Gilbert remained vehemently silent. His knife never wavered, but the blonde boy's gun did, and he uselessly dropped the hand holding it to the side. Francis gasped. "You should have told me you were an Axis!" Matthew said with one last cry, his other free hand coming up to cradle his face.

Gilbert slowly lowered his knife. Finally tearing his gaze away from it's stationary spot on Francis, he looked to the side and mumbled, "It still doesn't matter."

Francis, no longer being threatened, broke into the conversation. "Of course it matters!" He glared in Gilbert's direction, his voice protective as he said, "You're a sadistic fuck- like hell I'd let you stay around my little Matthieu! And besides that, our gangs want each other dead! Just a few weeks ago Alfred had to kick out Ukraine for being friends with Hungary!" Ahh, Matthew thought, so that explained Elizaveta's advoidance. Francis, still telling Gilbert off, continued, "What happened to you anyways, Gilbert? Just because your brother started getting violent after your-"

Gilbert instantly snapped forward, his crimson eyes blazing with anger as he violently shoved metal back into Francis's face. "Don't you dare bring my brother into this!" The pale man hissed loudly. Matthew, a few footsteps away, kept his gun lowered. He knew Gilbert was just provoked; he'd come to his senses and lower the knife soon. "I'm the one who kept my mouth shut! My brother's mistakes have nothing to do with this - everything's my fault!"

"Alright!" Fracis agreed, the switchblade infront of his eyes causing him to back down. "Your fault. I'm sorry I brought Ludwig up. But come on, after your incident you and Ludwig have both changed-" He was cut off sharply as Gilbert lunged at him. Suddenly an albino hand shot fowards, aiming direcly for the French man's face.

Matthew instantly rose his arm and fired.

The next few instants were overwhelming with sound. The first one Matthew noticed was the sound of Gilbert's knife clattering to the ground. Oh crap, Matthew panicked, he dropped it! The next thing he heard was the bang of his gun- he'd pulled the trigger milliseconds before the realization of the situation occured to him. After this was a crack as Gilbert's closed fist connected with Francis's jaw, dislocating the bone. Finally, the window behind them shattered from the impact of the bullet. The Canadian shakily let out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd sucked in, but thank God that bullet had missed.

Gilbert, upon hearing the gunshot and the breaking window, came back to his senses and shot his gaze towards Matthew. Fracis sat stunned and hurt, but quiet. There were a few heartbeats in which Gilbert and Matthew, once again locked in intense gaze, contemplated their opponents next move. Were they serious about this fight, or were they going to let eachother off with a warning?

Next thing either party knew, Alfred burst open the door, effectively bursting the bubble. "Everyone downstairs, now!" He yelled, his hands clutching his injured leg but his façade betraying none of the pain he must be feeling. "Something's happened - it's trouble for you too Prussia!"

Both Matthew and Gilbert looked confused for a second before coming to and bolting down the stairs simultaneously. Francis sadly, was left upstairs, forgotten by all despite his screaming to let him free so he could take part in the discussion.

Downstairs in the spacious living room, seemingly everyone and a few new faces were gathered, all looking hostile or scared. Ivan (an old hockey friend of Matthew's) and Eduard had guns pointed at Arthur, Diego and Gupta. If the fact that 2 of his allies had hostaged their own didn't shock him, Natalia and Katyusha holding guns to both the sobbing Italies did. Lithuania had Hungary restrained, who was struggling furiously while Austria looked at her with disapproval. He and Germany were sat on one couch, with Arthur and Yao sitting directly across, who America limped over to join. A preteen kid was huddled behind Ivan. Japan sat in the corner, breath coming out in heavy gasps. Prussia and Matthew gingerly squeezed into seats next to their respective brothers on the couches, and Matthew instantly locked his gaze on his old Russian teammate. What on earth was going on?

"My comrades" Ivan started, his voice dripping with sugar, "I'm afraid that I'm breaking off from the Allies-" said group gasped, Gilbert and a few other Axis sneered at him. Betrayal was a serious issue, on either side, "-and forming my own gang. You see, I actually would like to see all of you begging for me to save your pathetic lives, so I'm forming the USSR and am going to take all of you out." His eyes swept around and his mouth smirked at Gilbert, who was still sneering at the tall Russian. After his speech and apparently not willing to stay much longer, Ivan flicked one of his guns' towards the door. Instantly 5 of Matthew's former comrades and one shivering little kid took their leave, without a word or a glance backwards.

Alfred, unable to keep his mouth shut, spat angirly after the reatreating coats, "You communist bastards! I should have known not to trust people like you." Germany, for his part, kept silent but looked pensive. Unsure of how to proceed, several members from both gangs looked around in a daze, while the leaders of both gangs whispered among their friends.

North Italy, for all his stupidity, was the first to clear the fog plaguing everyone's mind. "So... where does this leave us now? As rival gangs, I mean."

"I'm not sure." Germany grudgingly admitted, raising his eyes to meet with Alfred. They both looked at each other before seeming to come to a conclusion. "For now you all go home. The Axis is calling a temporary truce that I'm sure you Allies will agree to. Get out of our house and stay out of our territory; we'll stay out of yours. Until we figure out how to take care of this USSR, I promise there will be no fighting."

Alfred and England both nodded sagely, and without a word all of the Allies got up. Yao walked over to help his leader walk, and Gupta let Arthur lean on him on the way out.

"Mattie." Gilbert said suddenly, startling Matthew out of his now racing thoughts. He looked over at the silverette, who had a grimace on his face. Ivan had once told Matthew how much he hated a mysterious 'Prussia' during a game of hockey. At the time Matthew had no idea who Prussia was, but now that he did he wondered if the hatred ran both ways. "Go get Francis. Tell him the terms. We're letting you go." Germany shot a questioning look at his older brother but said nothing.

Matthew ascended the staris and walked back to the room he previously occupied along with a questionable friend and a coward. He kept quiet as usual while he untied the ropes binding Francis. The French man, for his part, remained eerily quiet as well until the both decended the stairs to leave the house. Once outside, the older man leaned towards Matthew to state lowly in his ear, "Listen up. If you want to continue being friends with Gilbert Bielschmidt, you need to know about his past."

A / N :/ First of all, the reason I used some human names and some country names is because Matthew only knows the names of his own side (except for a few exceptions).
Second of all, Diego (Cuba) and Gupta (Egypt) are members of the Allies. I know they weren't prominent countries in world war 2 but the Allies need more members.
Lastly, I know it's been forever since my last update and I'm soooo sorry. Shit got busy. Anyways, I'll be on spring break in a week so I promise you another chapter soon. Unfortunately I haven't written it yet.
Till then, peace. Also, I don't own Hetalia.