The street outside the apartments where Vash and Lily lived were oddly noisy for this time of day, and so no one really paid much attention to the smaller man who stood on the other side of the building. Andreas stared coolly at the ringing cellphone in his hand for a few minutes before finally picking it up. "What is it Kohler?"

"I want to know what you found in the apartment of course. You didn't think I'd actually call for something that isn't important, did you?"

He rolled his eyes, deciding against listing off all the times the Dane had called him pointlessly. "Well, the girl we saw, her name is Lily Zwingli. Lives with her brother. You may be interested to hear that he's a cop."

"You think that's how she knows Matt?"

"That was my guess. But neither of them was home. It looks like someone left in a hurry."

"Her brother knows where Jones is…" Mathias murmured, more to himself than the man on the other end. "See if you can track them using cellphone records or credit cards. They can't be more than a day up the road."

"I'll get some guys on it right away. You want me to go too?"

"Yeah. Make it quick. And don't let the law slow you down. Go as fast as you can without killing yourself."

Andreas nodded, even though the other couldn't see him, and hung up. With a sigh, more of exhaustion than actual annoyance, he turned to his car, and drove away, leaving the blazing inferno of the apartment building behind him just as the wailing sirens of fire trucks began echoing around the buildings. When the police arrived to question witnesses about the possibility of an arsonist, none would recall the pale-faced man who'd been speaking calmly on his phone throughout the entire affair.

{}}{{}

As the four began to move everything from Alfred's car into the police vehicle, Alfred and Matthew began arguing over who was going to drive.

"You go too slow Mattie! Like, half the speed limit."

"The speed limit's in kilometres here, not miles. I go at least ten over it too. We'll end up being pulled over if you drive, and I'd love to see you get us out of that kind of situation."

"Can't we just turn on the sirens and go?"

"This is an unmarked vehicle Al. It doesn't have sirens."

"Oh yeah? Then what's the point of an unmarked car if you have no authority?"

"To be subtle. We don't want too much attention. I know subtle is a difficult concept for you to grasp, so just go with it, would you?"

In the end, Alfred just wrestled the keys out of his brother's grasp, and hopped into the driver's seat. "All aboard!" He called cheerfully. "To London!"

"Any plans for getting on a plane?" Vash asked as he slid into the back seat, along with his sister. "Or have you forgotten that you're a wanted criminal?"

"Oh really? I didn't realize that!" He replied sarcastically. "Don't sweat it, I got a fake ID made a long time ago, it'll be fine."

"Besides, he's not actually wanted in Canada." Matthew added. "As long as the police haven't sent anything this way, we shouldn't have a problem."

"That's good." Lily murmured, more just to say something than anything else. "So what's your cousin like?"

"Who, Artie?" Alfred scrunched up his face in thought as the abandoned car faded into the distance. "He's a bit eccentric. A lot of weird hobbies and interests, but he's a pretty okay guy. He'll house us for a bit at least."

"What kind of hobbies?"

"Black magic, mostly." He replied with a grin. "Black magic and the Beatles. He's got shelves of their records, right next to his collection of spell books. He's an odd duck."

"You're an odd duck." Matthew muttered, still a bit annoyed about not driving. "The Beatles are amazing."

"I'm sorry! They're just too British. And they're not metal enough."

"You don't even like metal!" He shot back.

"Go to hell Mattie."

"You're driving, I'm already there."

As they continued to argue, Lily started to giggle. "They're kind of like you and Gilbert, don't you think?"

Vash turned red at the thought of sounding that much like a brother to Beilschmidt, and shook his head. "Why don't you get some sleep? We've still got a long ways to go. I'll wake you up when we're there."

"I'm not that tired, really. I just woke up a little while ago, remember?" She insisted. "Besides, I'd like to hear more stories about your cousin, if you don't mind Mr. Jones. He sounds rather interesting."

"Okay, first things first kiddo, please don't call me Mr. Jones, I'm really not old enough to be a Mister. Just Al's fine."

"Al it is." She promised. "So have you known Arthur for long?"

"You kidding? The wacko raised us!"

"Explains a lot." Vash muttered under his breath.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Matthew leapt in to answer. "You're nuts."

"Aw! I love you too bro!"

With a final fit of laughter from Alfred, he clicked on the radio, and the passengers fell into a comfortable silence, as they drove along the highway.

{}}{{}

Only a few hours after the four had pulled away, Andreas arrived at the site of the abandoned car, where one of the other men was already waiting. "The others have gone on ahead in the direction we figured they were going. They'll catch up to them soon, as long as nothing slows them down."

"I'm surprised nothing slowed you down getting here. I lost you after the first few intersections."

"Yes well…" he shuddered, looking faintly green. "Vargas is a lunatic behind the wheel. That we weren't killed was a miracle."

"And he's been after them for how long now?"

"About ten minutes. But like I said, he'll catch up real quick."

"You'd better hope so. Or it'll be all our heads on the chopping block."

"R-right. Well, they're on their way east. We figured Quebec, and then catch a plane from there out of the continent."

The stony-faced man nodded, and jerked his head towards his car, which was still running. "Get in. We'll head back and tell Kohler the news. Then we'll wait for Vargas' crew to tell us where they're headed."

"No need. Like I said, he'll catch up long before they can get out of the province. We'll have their destination before lunch time."

Andreas just continued to stare coldly at the other man until he scurried over to the car.

{}}+{{}

Thanks for reading~! And for being patient, but I have good reasons for slowness. Story time first though. At my church, we've got a guest book in the front, and this week, I glanced at it, and saw Liechtenstein, so of course, I read further. It was this couple from Switzerland who went to a church in Liechtenstein… kind of made my day a little bit.

Okay, reasons why you should not kill me now. I'm out of IB, but still in University level courses, two of which are grade 12, and the workload is pretty intense. Speaking of which, can anyone give me any pointers on a Data Management final assignment? Second, I'm in musical theatre, and we're doing Guys & Dolls this year, and I got the part of Sarah Brown, the romantic lead, so that'll take up a lot of my time.

Finally, if you've noticed the poll on my profile, it looks like I'm going to be writing the Romano/Canada story next. This fact makes me very happy, as I really want to write it. Well, I've sort of already written several chapters, and it's been taking up my time with its awesomeness. I have never been this prepared to write a fanfic EVER!

Long author's note is long, but if you're still reading this, thanks loads for your patience, and please drop a wonderful review~! I'll try and be faster in the future… but no promises.