Start: Chapter Six

I.

It took me a moment to figure out where I was once I woke up. All I could tell was that Gilbert had his arms around me – which was an oddity, for with Ludwig there we always slept more apart. Slowly, I remembered, groaning, and moved closer to Gilbert, burying my face in his chest. This small shift in position caused me to realize how much my muscles ached from the testing yesterday, and I groaned again, shutting my eyes and trying to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, my choice to move had woken Gilbert up as well, and he pulled back a little to look at my face. Unwillingly, I opened my eyes. He grinned at me.

"Feeling better, Roddy?" He pushed the hair off of his forehead, somehow managing to not have one hint of sleep still in his red eyes. "I bet you are because I awesomely helped you out last night."

I rolled my eyes, not too shocked by how fast Gilbert got to his regular self. I settled myself to simply nodding, pulling out of his grip to sit up. "Thank you." I stood up with a wince – somehow I had ended up with a bruise on my leg from the previous day.

"Hey, where are you going?" Gilbert was also now sitting, leaning back on his arms with that not-really-trying look that he somehow managed to make work. A small pout played about his lips, and if I hadn't been able to see a camera watching us from the corner of the room, I would have wiped it away.

Sighing, I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm probably not supposed to be here. It is best to get back to my room as soon as possible."

He frowned a little now, leg shaking absentmindedly. A nervous habit he had always had and I don't think had ever noticed. "How often are we going to be able to see each other in this place?" he asked, and my gaze was drawn to a small flame around his index finger.

"Meals for certain, then I do not know how things work out here past that." I shifted from foot to foot, worried that someone was going to catch me in here.

For a moment, Gilbert frowned a bit more, then he nodded, sitting up straighter and resting an elbow on his knee. "You will come back here tonight." It was far from a request.

I bit my lip, shaking my head for a moment. Years of practice made me want to argue, to retort that he wasn't the boss of me and I was not about to do any such thing. But it only took a moment to find myself nodding.

Gilbert was smiling again, a self-satisfied sort of look. "Good. Don't worry; I'll make sure you don't get in trouble from it." His eyes flicked to the camera, then back.

I nodded again, then moved and opened the door, heading out before I could get distracted again. Glancing around, I slipped back into my shared room with Arthur, to my own bed. Sighing, I had just relaxed into the hard mattress when I could feel a bit of a glare boring down on me from above.

"Where the hell were you last night?" I opened my eyes with a sigh, looking up at a rather angry looking Arthur. "Do you have any idea how much trouble I would be in if you were caught?"

"I just couldn't sleep," I murmured, turning over onto my side. Behind me, I could hear Arthur continuing to seethe.

"Breakfast in half an hour," he grumbled, stomping back off to his side of the room. I gave a small nod of response, turning onto my side and looking over at the wall next to me.

I found it unnerving that every surface in this building seemed to be pure white. After spending so much time hiding out in used barn houses and under bushes, I was used to browns and yellows and greens. The blue of the sky in the day, the velvety black of night. The white was unnatural. It reminded me of stories about mental wards.

Before I could settle more into the bed, I felt something hit my back. Glancing back, I blinked at two half-way unfolded pieces of black fabric. A black shirt and pants.

"Change of clothes. Standard uniform," Arthur grumbled, standing by his bed with his hands crossed across his chest. "They brought it for you while you were still gone. I said that you were in the bathroom to cover. Just be glad that there aren't any security cameras in there to check."

"Thanks," I murmured, sitting up and taking the clothes, then turning around again to slip them on. Inside, I felt relief that there really no cameras in the bathroom. They couldn't have seen anything from that room the previous night then.

It seemed there wasn't a pause from me finishing changing and the door opening, tense anger filling the room. The walk to the cafeteria was silent, an awkward combination of half blistering anger, half bright cheer as the twin Italians tried to balance each other out.

What happened once we got to the meal room seemed almost commonplace the second time, Antonio attacking Lovino with a hug and the resulting furious emotion affecting everyone but the attacker. This time I could see the two exchange a small kiss and noticed that where they stood was right under a camera, where they could not be seen. I blinked, surprised at the thought that had been put into this.

Lizzie was once again dishing meals, this time just plopping some toast on a plate for each person. She and Arthur put up idle chatter, talking more easily than any two that I had seen so far. Of course, when she came to me her whole demeanor changed, for reason that I still had yet to figure out.

"R-Roderich, hi," she got out, face blushing red. The girl started piling on pieces of toast, me watching confusedly as she put the fourth one on. Everyone else had only gotten two.

All of a sudden there was an arm around my shoulder. I glanced up to see Gilbert, a strained grin on his face as he looked at Elizabeta. I wasn't good at reading very many people, but I could clearly see in Gilbert's expression the message of "back off," directed in full force at the brunette girl.

Instantly, her chin jutted out and she held the tongs used to serve the toast like she would a weapon. "I don't think I've met you," she said, voice sweet, yet clearly dangerous.

"Gilbert. And I asked that Spanish guy over there," Gilbert jerked a thumb at Antonio, "Who exactly you are. So, Elizabeta. I would just like to remind you that it is not okay to covet things that belong to others. It would just be so awesome if you would get that look out of your eyes and keep your thoughts away from what is mine." The grin was still in place on his face, eyes deadly serious. I looked between the two, mildly confused.

Elizabeta crinkled her nose a little, looking back at me. "You let him talk about you like this?" When I didn't give a reaction – not quite sure what exactly should be given as a reaction – she sighed and lowered the tongs. "Fine then. For now."

Gilbert made a face, then took my two extra pieces of toast. "Let's go, Roddy." His arm moved to my waist, holding me to his side as I was lead to a free table.

We ate in silence, painfully aware of the camera pointed right at the table. All around there was noise – Arthur yelling at Francis from a couple tables over, Antonio's laughter rising over the din, a couple instances of an easily placed "like, totally!" from Feliks. But it wasn't until Gilbert was done eating and I almost finished as well that conversation began between us.

"Where is Ludwig?" I asked, hoping that because I had not seen him yet here, that meant that he was not also captured. Gilbert's expression told me otherwise.

"In the infirmary, I think. They drugged him before bringing him in. Probably want to make sure that he'll wake up before they dump him someplace." Gilbert frowned a little. "Alfred is also here. This flying kid who thinks that it is possible to be as awesome as me."

I sighed. "Arthur won't like to hear that…" We lapsed into silence again as I thought about Ludwig being here. Surely it was a step up to how home would have been. But I couldn't help but think that it was our fault that he was in such a situation.

The silence continued, but now it was more widespread. It was like something had come across the whole room, causing every person in there to be quiet. Quite a feat, really, as there were a great deal of people there.

It was Gilbert who broke the silence, but instead of filling it as he would have while we were on the run, he turned to me and drummed his fingers against the table. "Play something, Roddy," he murmured, red eyes darting around at all of the people. He was as unused to having this many people our age about as I was.

After a moment, I nodded, keeping care not to look around as I rose up my hands. For fighting, it was easiest to push outward and simply blast a percussive sound from the palms of my hands. It was a much different technique when it came to my regular playing. Instead of blindly thrusting outwards, I conducted the air.

In my mind I could see a symphony orchestra. Throughout the years I had perfected actually seeing it before me by staring into the red pools of Gilbert's eyes. I found their particular color incredibly helpful for blocking everything else out. It wasn't long before my vision blurred and I could make out the red-tinged shapes of my mind's orchestra and choir.

I loved to start with violins and cellos, bringing out high, soaring melodies and booming baselines. Percussion followed, then the sound would build to the woodwinds and violas, then the brass. The last of the instruments would rise above the rest, my piano. Here was the part where I almost always faltered, missing the feeling of ivory keys beneath my fingers. But I persisted on to bring out the basses and altos of the choir. Finally, sopranos and tenors would join, the sounds of my full symphonic sound quivering in the air, bold and beautiful.

Just three measures before the end, I would cut off everything but the piano. I would guide this, my instrument of choice, into a few ending notes, then let my fingers close, hovering in the air for a moment before my hands dropped, and I would accept the applause in my head. A little audience that I created along with my orchestra.

But as I blinked my eyes back into focus, I found that there was no imaginary audience clapping for me. The other mutties in the room were clapping, smiling, looking stunned in some cases. True, there were some more enthusiastic than others, but looking around I didn't find one with still hands.

Then there was Gilbert, crushing me into a hug. I could practically feel the grin on his face and I knew that I had done my best work yet. For a moment, I allowed myself to blush red, face hidden in Gilbert's chest. But the color on my cheeks quickly died and I stood, gave a small bow, and sat back down.

It had felt good to conduct again. It had felt good to be acknowledged.

Something drew my attention from the side of the room. There, in the shadow of the door, were three figures. The two older ones watched me with interest, gazes fixed on me in a way most uncomfortable. Yet my gaze was drawn to a boy a bit older than me, hands cuffed in front of him, shoulder held in a vice grip by the one lady of the group.

There was something off about his green eyes… They seemed almost to be staring right through me. But his mouth started to move, mouthing something. I squinted my eyes, desperate to catch whatever it was he was trying to say, somehow knowing it was for me.

He tried three times, and only on the third did I get it. As the boy looked at me, he was carefully forming the words "watch out."

II.

It wasn't rare for Roderich to be tired after conducting, so Gilbert wasn't surprised when he was quiet afterwards. He didn't notice the brunette get distracted by the people by the door, instead busy looking around the room with raised eyebrows and an arm around Roderich's waist, in case anyone got ideas after being so impressed.

Luckily, word seemed to have spread that Gilbert was an Elementalist, and their combined fear of the show that Roderich had put on in the arena the previous day and this knowledge put them off from approaching. Especially when those red eyes were glaring around and practically daring anyone to even try.

In school, Gilbert had been known to be a relatively social person, but saying that had been a while ago would have been an understatement. After four years of only two people for company, he was not particularly overjoyed or comfortable about the amount of people around them. As far as he was concerned, they could damn well keep their distance.

Yet someone did come up, the Spanish kid that he had asked Elizabeta's name from. Antonio. Least, Gilbert was assuming that he was Spanish. He'd been wandering California enough to pick up on a few words and knew just as well as the next person that "amigo" was meant friend. In Spanish.

It was obvious that Antonio was intending to talk to Roderich first, but Gilbert raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, effectively getting his point across in saying that no, everything was going through him first. The cheerful brunette just shrugged and turned to the albino.

"I just wanted to say that it has been a while since we had such entertainment here. Arthur used to put on shows, but the same fairies get a little boring after a while." Antonio smiled, rolling his shoulders in a shrug. "If your novio would like to play more often, we'd all like that very much."

Gilbert glanced over at Roderich, who appeared to be looking down at the toast still left on his plate with disgusted disdain. For a moment, a smile went across the albino's face, real and gentle, not his normal cocky flash of teeth. No matter how bad things had gotten while on the run, Roderich still had his standards with meals. He had to be the one to pick out the food because if he didn't like it, he wasn't going to eat it.

Then he let the moment pass and gently nudged the brunette next to him. "Ey, how about it Roddy? You want to play more for them sometimes?"

Roderich looked up, blinking his violet eyes confusedly. Gilbert guessed that he still wasn't entirely recovered from the trancelike state he seemed to go into when conducting. "Ah, sure. Of course," Roderich said quietly, nodding a little then turning back to look at the toast with a sigh.

Gilbert turned back to Antonio with a grin and a nod. "He says that would be awesome."

Antonio laughed, the edges of his green eyes crinkling a little. "A bit of a loose translation, no?" He looked between the two, then sat down across the table from them and rested his chin on the palms of both hands.

A little unnerved by Antonio's stare, no matter how friendly he seemed, Gilbert shifted in his seat and tightened his hold on Roderich. "Whatcha looking at?" he asked, absentmindedly calling up a bit of flame and playing with it around the fingers of his free hand.

Beaming, Antonio nodded between the two of them. "The adorableness! Couples are just so cute!"

Gilbert glanced nervously at the camera, glad that it was facing so it couldn't see their side of the table. Following his glance, Antonio laughed again.

"Oh, don't worry about that! We knocked the sound out of that one ages ago." He turned back with a wink. "Alfred was a big help with those things."

Looking slightly relieved, Gilbert laughed. "So they can't hear us? Brilliant!" He grinned and leaned forward, eyes wandering around the other people in the room. "So, if you like couples so much, are you one?"

Antonio's smiled broadened and he nodded, enthusiastically. "Of course!" He twisted in his seat, then stood up and bounced over to Lovino, dragging him over to the table and plopping him down. "This is my little tomato!"As he radiated excited happiness, the Italian next to him glared at Roderich and Gilbert.

It was then that a creeper came in, pressing a button on a wall. The room filled with a loud buzzing noise for a second, then everyone starting filing out. Antonio bounced to the balls of his feet.

"See you later, amigos! We are all looking forward to your testing, Gilbert!" Then the Spaniard was gone, dragging Lovino along with him.

When the last of the other had left the room, Roderich stood, tugging lightly on Gilbert's hand. Grinning, the albino got up and brushed a bit of the other's hair off of his forehead. "Time to go," he announced, eyes flicking to the camera and back, then letting Roderich's hand drop and gesturing for him to leave the room with a twitch of his head.

They exited, aware of the creeper who had hit the buzzer following them at a distance. Everyone else had already vanished from the hall, but peeking into doors, most people were in the rooms of others. Taking this as permission, the two went into Gilbert's room.

For a while they just sat on the bed, staring off into the distance. The silence was normal and familiar, not uncomfortable in the least. Every now and again, Roderich's thoughts would translate to a few disjointed notes in the air, commonplace to the both of them.

At some point, their hands joined, and a bit after that, Roderich was leaning against Gilbert, eyes closed. This changed into them both laying down, Roderich's head on Gilbert's chest as he listened to the albino's heartbeat. Despite their situation, the two felt content as they were.

But after a while, the peace was broken by a couple firm knocks on the door. Gilbert turned his head, blinking in surprise at Ludwig standing in the doorway, arms crossed across his chest. He nudged Roderich, who glanced over, then quickly sat up.

"As if I didn't know," Ludwig shook his head a little, then jerked his head down the hall. "Come on."

III.

Heracles had known the instant that Sadik had stepped foot in the building, of course. He could feel himself anticipating the arrival of his old… Could he say friend, really? Ally, enemy… There were so many names he could give the masked Turk, names that made him seethe and blush, but he wasn't sure friend was one of them.

Yet he hadn't gone to see the masked teen the first thing. He had been lost in one of his dreams, almost legitimately frightened by what he was seeing. Not for himself, of course, no one ever seemed to dare to go against him. But…

His head jolted up when Sadik was lead into the room. It had been decided that he was not going to go into general populace, instead staying under constant one-on-one surveillance, like Heracles himself. Loinen planned to watch him, despite Heracles' insistence that the male Parasite was an idiot and not at all qualified to keep tabs on Sadik. It was almost an insult to his old… Acquaintance.

Sadik's eyes fell on Heracles, and it was not the customary anger he was expecting. Certainly not the rage for looking at the one who had turned him in. Instead the boy shook Loinen's grip off his shoulder and walked over to sit across from Heracles, stretching out his legs.

"Yo, brat," he said in greeting, flashing a grin. "How's it been?"

Heracles stared at Sadik, then shrugged. "Just got out of eight years in solitary. And you?"

"Escaped from general populace in Europe, but you would already know that." He leaned across the table, clasping his hands in front of him. "And they think they got me fair and square here. Ha! I'm just here for business of my own. Namely helping you, really." His face grew serious, an expression that caused Heracles' blood to freeze.

"You have news…" Heracles whispered, wetting his lips. "On someone I don't keep track of."

A nod in answer. Sadik's eyes danced around, making sure they weren't being overheard. No, everyone was drawn towards the cameras. Heracles knew that Gilbert's test was starting and all the creepers were excited to see that.

When Sadik spoke, his voice was almost inaudible and Heracles had to lean forward to hear. "Limatik. His host body is wearing out."

Heracles stopped breathing for a moment, then he closed his eyes and regained composure. "So he is searching for a new host…"

"Yeah. And he's searching here. Because he heard stories about someone that fits his requirements newly come in."

Heracles thought back to what he had seen in his lasted dream and clenched his fists, digging his nails into the palms of his hands. "Then we need to move faster than I thought…" His eyes drooped as a dream demanded attention, pressing at the corners of his mind.

Dark hands reaching for the running boy… Red balls of fire screaming hatred and stopping the hands, but letting everything else crumble… A contract and agreement with as much worth as his own with Parazita… A young boy crying at the side of a motionless form…

Shaking his head to clear it, Heracles looked up at Sadik in alarm. The masked face looked impassively back at him, used to the comings and goings of the Greek's visions.

"We need to rally them, Sadik… Soon. Or it will all be for nothing. And I am not allowing another to be sacrificed to their greed."

A flash of teeth and a nod. "What did you think I came for, brat? Start tonight."

Heracles bowed his head, brown curls flopping into his face. He had hoped for more time… Hoped to have the water Elemental here to, when he started. Not having him under supervision was dangerous. But even more so…

"Yes. We will start tonight."

End: Chapter Six

Well. This has been done for a while. But when it comes to putting it up, I have been a bit lazy.

ANYWAYS, this chapter introduces some very important aspects of plot. Catch them if you can~ And while you're at it, please read and review! It would be most appreciated.