Vash opened the door, and slid out, hands raised. Who the hell had he been kidding? There was no way he ever could've just let Jones live and get to go back to normal life with nothing more than a smack on the wrists. Now he'd be viewed as nothing more than a criminal, and there was no telling how Lily would take it either.

He wasn't quite sure what he'd expected the cop to do. But hug him certainly wasn't on the list of possibilities.

"Vash! Oh thank God it's you!"

It took him a moment to register the person whose arms were wrapped around him in a death-grip was his sister. "L-Lily?"

She looked up at him, eyes gleaming happily as she nodded. "I was so worried that we'd lose you stopping at the motel, but it turns out that that was the best choice after all!"

"Who's we? Did you convince Gilbert of all people to take you here?"

Wordlessly, she pointed over to where Matthew was leaning against the car, smirking slightly.

"Williams?"

"Well I figured Al would do something stupid like this, and your sister seemed pretty determined to get you back home herself, so I figured I should do my part." He explained. "Speaking of which, where is Al?"

In response, Alfred burst out of their car with a blanket tangled around his ankles. He ignored it, dragging it along the side of the road as he sprinted over to his brother, and tackled him into a hug. "Mattie! I missed you so much, and now you're here to be my amazing sidekick again so we can go on awesome adventures together!" He cheered.

Matthew grumbled something about his brother being a fat jackass, but he was smiling brightly as he did so.

"So why'd you come all the way out here for lil' old me?" Alfred asked brightly.

"Well, Lily was getting really worried, so I promised to take her out here to find Vash. At least, that's how it started…" His eyes clouded over, and he suddenly went quiet.

"It's about him, isn't it?"

"…Yeah."

{}}{{}

Frowning, Matthew had followed Mathias through the writhing crowds to a door at the back, flanked by two pale-haired men, who appeared to be related. "That was fast Kohler. I didn't expect you'd find him so quickly." The taller of the two muttered.

"You always expect the worst of me Andreas." The Dane said with an overdramatic sigh. "Anyway, me and Mattie are going to have a nice long talk, so no interruptions."

"Got it."

The room they entered was dark, and as the door closed, it became pitch black. The instant of light that Matthew got only let him catch a glimpse of a dark red couch before being thrust into darkness.

"So Matt, I hear your bro's on the run."

"Th-that's what we've been told."

"You have to have some sort of idea of where he went, right?"

"Can't say I do."

He could almost hear the grin on Mathias' face when he answered, "Funny. That's not what you told that little blondie over at the bar."

"R-really?"

"Really. In fact, you said you were going to take her there in a couple of days."

"I was lying." He murmured quickly. "I just wanted to get her out of my hair. There's no way she could actually find me to take me up on the offer. I'm sorry Kohler, but I have no clue where Alfred would run to."

"Now why don't I believe you?"

He still couldn't see a thing, but Matthew could feel the taller man's arm leaning against the wall beside him, probably looking as deceivingly friendly as always. Mathias had him all figured out, just like Alfred before him. What the hell kind of grudge did he have against the brothers? They'd never done anything to him! Never arrested any of his men, never threatened him, nothing. So why them? He really didn't like where the conversation was headed anyway, so he reached silently for the door handle, clasping the cold metal in his palm.

"Well if you did believe everything a cop tells you, you'd be the one behind bars by now, am I right?"

"You know it! Now, in all seriousness, how about you tell me about your brother's new hiding place, and what's so special about that blondie getting there?"

Matthew turned the handle slowly, discovering that it was unlocked to his excitement. "We'll have to save story-time for another day, okay Mathias? Right now I have somewhere I need to be." And without another word, he hurled the door open, and sprinted out into the club.

Neither of the two who stood by the door moved to catch him. They knew a lost cause when they saw one, and instead, turned to face Mathias, whose face was darker than the room he was stepping out of. "That brat. Just as arrogant as his damn brother." He spat harshly.

{}}{{}

Despite the run-in with Mathias at the club, Matthew appeared in front of the tall apartment building as promised, with the trunk of his car packed with all the essentials, with some room still for whatever Lily brought. He was somewhat concerned about her bringing too much stuff. He'd known girls like that before, and it was kind of a hassle.

Luckily, she appeared out of the building carrying only a backpack, and a purse. "How far is it?" Were the first words out of her mouth as she slid into the passenger seat.

"Not far. Twelve hours, if the traffic is good."

"T-twelve?"

"Yeah. But seeing as we're in one of these babies…" He patted the sides of the unmarked police car. "We can do it in ten."

"I-isn't that illegal?"

"Well… yes, but that's a little besides the point. I get the feeling that Alfred's going to leave tomorrow, and I'd hate to miss him because we took two days to get there."

"Right." Lily reached over to slide her seatbelt in place, and then stared out the windshield with determination. "Then floor it please!"

{}}{{}

"And that's how we ended up waiting for you like creepers at the motel." Matthew ended with a grin.

"So wait, is Kohler coming after us?"

"I don't know. He wanted to know where you are, that seems like reason enough to me that he would."

"So what you're saying is…"

"I'm on the run too."

"Bitchin'! Wait 'till Artie hears about this! He'll be all 'I should've beaten you two more as children! Getting mixed up with the law and gangs, whatever would your parents think of you?' It'll be awesome!"

"Glad you're taking it so well."

"I hate to interrupt…" Vash started, looking like he didn't really hate it at all. "But who's this 'Kohler' guy anyway?"

"He's a gang leader from Denmark." Matthew explained quickly before Alfred could get on a rant about how much of an asshole this guy was. "He was the one who got all those people killed, and framed Al for it."

"Why is he angry with you two?"

"We might've stepped on his toes a bit." It was Alfred who spoke this time, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I got into a few fights, and Mattie arrested some of his men. We weren't exactly best pals to begin with. But it kind of got taken too far when Mattie ended up being best friends with Mathias' worst enemy, and he found out. Things got really ugly then."

"So he framed Alfred for his dirty work, and is starting to threaten Williams." Vash finished quietly.

"You got it. Normally, we'd keep you two out of it. Trust me, you don't need our problems. But right now, it's not just about us, is it?"

Vash's grip on his sister's shoulder tightened minutely. "You mean he'd go after Lily too?"

"Yes."

"But why? She's done nothing to him!" But even he knew the answer before it came out of the younger officer's mouth. He'd dealt with more than his fair share of gang bosses to know how they're minds worked.

"She was seen talking with me. That alone is reason enough for him to want her dead. Plus, he thinks that she'll know where me and Al are."

"What about Lizzie and Gil?" Lily asked quietly. "They were there too."

"Gilbert is Mathias' worst enemy. He can take care of himself, and Elizaveta, so don't worry about a thing."

"And that puts the four of us in the same boat." Vash murmured. It wasn't a question. He knew exactly what had to happen now.

"Awesome! We're all going on a road trip to London together!" Alfred cheered, running towards their car. "Let's dump this baby and cruise on over to the nearest airport in style!"

Vash had to stifle a groan at the thought of not just spending a few hours in a small car with Alfred, but now several hours on a plane with him, and God only knew how long they'd be together after that.

Although, it was nice to be able to believe that that was the worst of his problems.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~!

Well do you hate me for my slowness? I sure do. But right now, nothing wants to be written, so bear with me.

Okay, Mathias Kohler is Denmark, (he seemed like an interesting villain) Andreas is Norway, and the quiet one (Freyr, I don't think his name has come up yet, but that's it) is Iceland.

Them all going to London was in the original plan, but I suddenly had to make a villain to force them all there, or else it wouldn't have made sense.

As always, reviews motivate me, so send lots. And art would be… awesomer than Prussia.