Start: Chapter Nine

I.

I was confused by Gilbert's behavior the following morning, from the time I woke up – suddenly in his bed, hadn't I left? – straight through breakfast and into what appeared to be a training time. When asked if they were going to test Ludwig, Arthur replied that everyone was tired of the testing and would rather work on their powers individually.

There were rooms behind the arena where any and all materials that might be needed were held. There were also rooms where people with more destructive powers could practice without the fear of harming others.

Of course, one of those rooms was where Gilbert ended up. Me too, despite Arthur's insistence that such rooms were meant to be used by only one person at a time. One could most definitely consider shooting fire out of your hands to be a dangerous power, and Gilbert was in a mood that even I did not want to interrupt. I sat on a small bench in the corner of the room, watching as he flung flame after flame at the wall, the dancing lights gleaming in his eyes.

He was muttering things too, things I wasn't sure what to make of. I thought that I could hear Sadik's name, spoken of in frustration. Confusing, I had to admit, because I could think of very little contact that Gilbert and Sadik had had, and certainly no reason to have such frustration. Heracles, yes, but the grinning masked boy? Hardly.

Every now and again he looked over at me, the fire burning in his eyes giving him a fiercely protective look. I had already promised him that morning that I would stay out of Heracles' plans as much as possible, so this was also confusing. If I was to stay out of things, why would he need to be so worried?

Eventually – I was surprised that he had not done so the instant we stepped into the room – he punched towards the camera with his hand, pushing one of the more spectacular flames I had seen him make towards the offending object. He stood, panting, in the middle of the room, sweaty, with his hair plastered to his face. His hands were balled into tight fists at his sides, eyes dancing around the room with a sort of crazed anger that honestly scared me. Gilbert was many things, but this I had not before seen.

I slowly rose to my feet and moved towards him, aware of his red eyes following my every move. Agitated. Chest heaving. Limbs twitching slightly as he held back from any more violence. For my benefit, I knew. He was afraid of accidentally hurting me now that I was not sitting still.

I had just reached Gilbert when the door opened. He was instantly in front of me, teeth bared in a feral gesture of canine protectiveness, hands clenched so tightly into fists I knew there would be horrible red marks there in a few hours.

There was a low chuckle came from the doorway. I peeked around Gilbert to see what appeared to be a sickly young man, leaning against the frame of the door, thumbs tucked into his pockets. The only think that did not appear like it was about to fall apart about the man were his eyes. Unwavering, brown. Focused directly on me.

"Call off your guard dog, will you, Roderich?" The man shoved away from the door with his shoulder and sidled into the room. "It would be very bad if he hurt me. He could get into a lot of trouble."

Gilbert moved his body to always keep the intruder in his sights, me behind him. The man shook his head and clucked his tongue in mock sympathy, and I balled my own fists. Was he trying to be burned into a crisp? People didn't just mock my half-brother. Even the norms knew better than that, simply looking at his fire-colored eyes.

"My apologies," the man went on. "I have not introduced myself. My name is Limatik. And you are Gilbert and Roderich. The new arrivals. The special ones." A grin split across his peeling face and I felt like gagging. He should be in a hospital. But instead he was moving ever closer.

A graying hand reached around Gilbert and touched my face. Gilbert's hands exploded in fire and his whole body trembled, forcing himself not to kill this man on the spot. I could see the rage in his eyes, my eyes could follow the lines of tensed muscles under his clothing.

Another chuckle and the hand was pulled away from me. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, ducking behind Gilbert and bunching my hands in the back of his shirt. The stench of decay was in my nose, toxic and putrid, giving me the strong urge to vomit.

"He needs to come with me," Limatik continued on. "Roderich has been chosen for something very… Special. Back down, little fire puppy. You're just making things difficult."

I watched as Gilbert's rage turned into panic, then back again. He shook his head. "You can't take him anywhere."

"I'm afraid a no isn't really an option." Limatik raised up his hand to regard his fingernails. I couldn't see why he would want to. His fingers were filthy, broken, discolored. I didn't want to know what had happened for them to get that way.

A pleading tone I was completely unfamiliar with entered Gilbert's voice. "Please… You can't take him. Anything but that."

Sharp brown eyes looked up, a shimmer of interest in them. Mistrust was all I could feel towards them and I tugged on the back of Gilbert's shirt, trying to get his attention away. But he was too focused on Limatik.

"Anything you say?" Limatik turned on his heel to fully face Gilbert, a smile on his face. "And you mean that… Most literally?"

Gilbert swallowed hard and I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard him say, "Anything."

II.

Gilbert lay on his bed and covered his ears against the pleading that echoed throughout the room. He was very much aware of Roderich pacing, every now and again going to the side of the bed to try and reason with him, then pacing again, talking on and on about how he didn't trust this Limatik character, begging Gilbert to reconsider, and eventually just falling silent and slumping against the wall, head in his hands, eyes closed.

Getting up then, Gilbert went over and sat next to Roderich, stretching out his legs in a lazy sort of way. He draped his arm over the other's shoulders and drew him closer, cheek falling onto brown hair. As he slowly felt the younger boy relax, he took a deep breath.

"You remember San Francisco, Roddy?"

He could feel a slow nod against his skin and smiled faintly. "Beautiful city. When it was all lit up the lights shone on the water. It was freezing cold but you would look up at those lights and feel warm. Feel like you were inside Grossvater's house with a fire going and cookies in the oven, and that old Mozart record spinning out its music all around that living room."

When Roderich didn't interrupt, Gilbert took that as encouragement to keep going. "Well, we found that old shack beneath the boat docks. You remember, right? It was definitely not Grossvater's house, but it kept the chill out and you and me, we snagged some wurst from the German street vender and cooked it with some cabbage we'd nicked from the produce market down the street. And we gathered around my fire and we sang songs and Ludwig was smiling and happy and you were too. I remember. You'd been all sick, and the fever was still in your cheeks, but you were smiling as if there was nothing to worry about in the whole world."

Gilbert slowly rubbed Roderich's shoulder, staring out across the room. "And Ludwig went to bed. He slept right by the fire and he snuggled up in that old wool blanket and he called out before he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, 'ich liebe dich bruder Gilbert und bruder Roderich'. And you stared over at him and you started crying. I couldn't see why. We were all having such a good time, then you had to go being sad."

"But I wasn't sad," Roderich murmured.

"No, you weren't," Gilbert allowed. "You told me later. Happy tears. It was the first time anyone but Grossvater had ever said that they loved you. And I was surprised. And I pulled you into my arms, kinda like we are right now, but you were on my lap and your face was pressed to my chest and I was rocking back and forth and shushing you and you just wouldn't stop crying."

Gilbert looked down at Roderich. "And you know what happened next? I said, 'I love you, kleinen bruder. I love you more than I should and more than any brother has ever loved another. And I'll protect you and I'll make sure that you are always happy like you were tonight. Because you deserve that. More than anything.' You looked up with that wide-eyed surprised look you make that brings out your eyes and makes everyone's hearts melt. And then I kissed you."

Leaning against the wall, Gilbert took to staring across the room again. "Now, I'm keeping on that promise. I'm protecting you. Like I couldn't when we were little and Vati chased you around the house and I wouldn't find you for hours, all bloody and crying. I'll never let you get hurt again, Roddy."

Roderich was quiet for a long moment, then he slipped his arms around Gilbert's waist, squeezing him to himself gently. "Gil… I know. But you can't do this. Heracles his our way out of this."

Gilbert closed his eyes, exhaling slowly. "If giving away a little information will make sure nothing happens to you, nothing can stop me."

There was silence in the room, then Roderich leaned over to kiss Gilbert's cheek. "I'll convince you otherwise. But for now, sleep. It's been a long day."

"It has," Gilbert murmured, thinking over everything he had been told. "It has…"

III.

In the holding cell, Heracles paced back and forth. His green eyes darted around wildly, then he kicked the wall with an exasperated yell before collapsing onto the ground. He closed his eyes, the timelines darting around in his mind. Fingers curled into his hair and he shook a little, frustration threatening to choke him. Thing's couldn't be falling apart already.

On the other side of the room, he could feel Sadik watching him with trepidation. He hadn't released any information about the latest stream of timelines that had left him paralyzed for several minutes. The Turk was worried. He could sense the worry. But he could also sense the acrid tang of pity. He didn't want it. He wouldn't have it.

The door opened and Heracles' head jerked towards it. He had been so focused on his other visions that he hadn't checked to see if someone was coming to the blasted door. Unfocused green eyes slowly picked out Parazita, looking down at him with a curled lower lip, one hand on the doorknob. She hadn't been happy when Heracles had asked to be able to work in a room where there were no Parasites around. He supposed she found that untrustworthy. Not that he cared. She was a despicable being.

"The water Elemental has fled Alaska," Parazita said, the words bringing despair to Heracles. No, this couldn't happen. He needed the fourth Elemental here. He needed him to complete the plan, to complete the escape. Time was running short.

He cast around to try and find the boy, eyes falling shut as he focused. They flew open again and he was up and pacing, across and back, across and back. "Seattle," Heracles said in his normal soft voice. "He is in Seattle. But you must hurry. If you do not get him now he will be in Mexico and in the neutrality zone before you know it."

He kept pacing, then whirled on Parazita when he found that she was still there. "Do you not know the meaning of hurry? Hurry! Get your creepers on it and find him!" He watched as the woman left, clearly annoyed at being told what to do. But Heracles didn't care. The fourth Elemental was the final piece to the puzzle.

Heracles collapsed against the wall again, mind spinning through all the possibilities. "This is going too fast…" he murmured. "My center Elemental is becoming just another pawn in their games." The pacing resumed.

Sadik looked up from the wall he was leaning against, mask casting a shadow across his lower face. "What do you mean?" Those words had been the first Heracles had offered since his Dreamer episode.

Whirling on Sadik, a sort of haunted fear had taken over Heracles' eyes. "The other side is closing in on us, Sadik. Someone I need to be a leader may be falling into a role that will only bring himself and his loved ones greater pain."

Pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. "I need the fourth pillar. We need to get out of here." He slammed his fist against the wall, agitated by the visions in his mind, agitated to a point that he never got to. "If we don't, then we are all as good as dead."

The room fell into silence and the lights shut off as curfew hit. There was the thud of Heracles' knees as he hit the ground and a quiet shushing as Sadik pulled him into his arms, coaxing him into the bed. Quiet kisses shared in the dark before night in the building, for perhaps the first time, was totally still, every person there asleep in their beds.

All except one. Limatik stood in front of the lit screen, using the remote to flick through electronic information file after electronic information file. The unnatural light made his face appear more sickly, more haunted. A raspy breath shook his body and he cleared his throat before settling down in an old leather chair.

Bony fingers clasped in the man's lap and he leaned back in the chair, brown eyes calculating. As he flipped through the files, a smile broke across his face. A raspy chuckle rang out in the room and brown hair was pushed off his face.

"They think they might win…" he said softly. "I'm just only getting started."

He flicked off the projector and the room was plunged into darkness.

End: Chapter Nine

End: Section One

Well, well. This has been a while. What do I mean by a while? Over five months! Yeesh! My most sincere apologies to anyone who is still following this. School has been killing me. This was all done while I was home sick, over the past couple days. And yes, section one is over! I am intending this to be three sections, hopefully finishing up in the summer so we don't have a mess like before.

And all that wait for a shorter chapter! Again, I'm sorry. But, status update! 57 pages and 26,500+ words.

Answering some questions in the reviews... France has shown up, if you can remember back that far. He was in the cafeteria scene and is a touch sensory. And I can promise you, China will be joining us in section two. Keep an eye out.

So, please review? Reviews will get the next chapter out faster, I promise you. Every time I see a notification on this fic in my email, I want to work on it. And with school two weeks to finishing? With any luck, I will see you all soon.

Until next time... Less than three.