Chapter 13. Swing Life Away.

Gilbert was tempted to slam his head into the nearest wall to him, but he wasn't sure if he had the effort in him anymore. They'd been walking for days and finally made it to the capital, which just made Alfred worse beside him. He'd moan in his light sleep, he'd mutter things under his breath, he honestly looked like shit. Gilbert was sure he didn't look much better off. No matter how many times he sighed or tried to sleep it off…he couldn't forget what he had seen in that forest. He'd known Feliciano for years…he was the brightest, happiest guy he'd ever known, no matter his circumstances, it was no wonder his brother fought so hard for him. Everyone had a connection with him. Everyone. And now…Gilbert had to go back and tell them all that Matthew had done it.

Matthew didn't even care. It was just another head to drop, it didn't matter. But even Alfred was affected slightly by it. He'd only known Feliciano for a few days and he was reacting to it. It was bullshit. Gilbert tightened his hands into fists hard enough to break the skin with his nails, but he didn't care. Alfred was shivering behind them as they made their way through the capital in the middle of the night. Not many soldiers were out, attempting to enforce the strict curfew for all citizens, but they still had to avoid those that came out, especially those that would recognize them. It couldn't be known that they were in the capital, of all places.

"Almost there," Gilbert muttered. He had to keep his voice low, otherwise it would crack. It had happened many times before. He couldn't afford to slip up like that again.

"Why are you in the capital?" Alfred hissed at him. He was on edge, incredibly so. He was close to the king again, but this time he was against him. No…he wasn't against the king, Gilbert knew better than that. But he had decided to switch sides, for whatever reason. They could ask him about that once he got over the initial shock of betraying the man he'd known his whole life.

"Ask our idiot leader," Gilbert shook his head. They stopped where the small alleyway stopped and Gilbert glanced around carefully. No soldiers. There were even two teenagers smoking just a far distance away. They'd be caught before Gilbert and Alfred. There was no way they'd outrun the soldiers, that would be fun to watch. In any case, Gilbert shook his head and ducked out, turning sharply and running up to the building marked with a familiar number. Arthur had told it to him just in case he had to run for it. He knew all of their changes of address. He'd been able to talk to them on very short, rare occasions, giving them as much information as he could, storing the rest into his head. This was a suicide mission from the start, but he was thankful he was coming back alive. Gilbert just wished Feliciano had that chance.

Gilbert knocked on the door three times with his foot, only loud enough for those inside to hear it, not those closely next door. He glanced back at Alfred, who stared at the door in pure terror. It wasn't quite too late yet and Gilbert knew that. The whole trip back to the capital, he had been afraid that Alfred would switch sides again, but it didn't seem like he was about to. Once that door opened and he walked through the threshold, there was no going back. Alfred was trembling and, if Gilbert looked closely, he was near tears, something Gilbert had never seen before. He'd barely seen it from Matthew.

It was Arthur who opened the door, he looked slightly disheveled, as if he had just woken up, either that or he hadn't slept in days. He glanced at the two with slight confusion.

"It's one hell of a story," Gilbert muttered. "Let us in quick, he's safe."

Arthur nodded carefully, eyeing Alfred as the two walked into the door. Alfred visibly stiffened as the door closed behind him. He was very visibly shaking now.

"What the hell did you two get yourselves into?" Arthur snapped.

"Long story short, I blew my cover," Gilbert said. "And Mr. Loyal broke his ties to the king."

Gilbert had barely gotten the last word out before Alfred let out the first emotion Gilbert had really seen. It was a choked sob from the back of his throat and Gilbert went quiet, looking back at the man in shock. Alfred seemed to be in shock, but the tears came quickly. Apparently without thinking, Alfred latched onto Arthur, and this time didn't hold anything back. Everyone in the little house would hear him. Arthur seemed frightened at first, before he realized just what Alfred was doing, carefully bringing a hand up to pat the slightly larger man's back. This was final. Alfred was officially leaving the king's side and he was fully realizing just what that meant.

"Where is Feliciano?" Arthur asked carefully and Gilbert flinched. By now, the rest of the team was in the main room, where the front door opened to. "We lost contact with him a few days ago."

"Feli's dead," Gilbert muttered. He didn't look away from Arthur. He couldn't. Even Arthur had his eyes wide in shock and surprise. The only sound in the little house was Alfred's continued sobs. He wasn't even aware of the world around him, just the world crashing inside of his own head.

"You fucker!" Lovino snapped, the first to speak. "Who the fuck killed him?"

"Alfred's brother," Gilbert said simply. Even Lovino sounded like he was in tears. This was bad. "That's why I broke my cover…I…I couldn't stay after I…after I saw him…I wouldn't have been able to fake ignorance."

"You couldn't…" Antonio tried to speak up, but stopped shortly after. Alfred's voice cracked. "You couldn't get his body?"

"I'm sure the king's got that covered," Gilbert all but spat.

"I'll be right back," Arthur sighed, shaking his head to clear his thoughts, before he swiftly guided Alfred to some other part of the house, forcefully at that. Alfred didn't even seem to care about the treatment, following him, almost mindlessly. The room was painfully quiet for the minute he was gone before he came back. "We'll be moving soon, now would be the best time for you to give us all of the information you have."

"That's it? " Lovino snapped, storming across the room to glare at Arthur, who gave him a half-hearted gaze back. "That's fucking it? They come back, that fucker says he's changed his mind, and you let them back? My brother's fucking dead now!"

"Yes, and if you're not quiet, someone is going to notice something is wrong," Arthur said coldly. "If you would like to attract more attention and risk anymore lives, then I suggest you keep shouting. It's not helping anything. No matter how many times you curse, he will not come back. By all means, mourn, and take your anger out on me like you promised, but don't decide to take your anger out on anyone else. Now you can stay here and remain quiet, or you can return to your room and mourn as much as you please."

Lovino muttered something under his breath about bastards, slumping onto the couch with a heavy breath. Gilbert shivered slightly. He hadn't been back in quite a while, but he never expected to come back under these circumstances. Arthur motioned to the couches and Gilbert heard the others in the room move silently over to them. There were two, basically identical, gray couches. No one dared turn on the lights, or risk the wrath of the soldiers patrolling the streets. Gilbert slumped onto the couch beside his brother, Ludwig, sighing deeply.

"First, I'm going to make this clear," Gilbert said after a long stretch of silence. "Do not, by any means, underestimate Alfred's connection to the king. Because I will tell you right now that he is still loyal to that bastard. If he had some way to get into Alfred's head right now and tell him to kill us all, Alfred wouldn't hesitate. He sided with us for…whatever reason. I guarantee you it's for real, he doesn't know how to fake those kinds of emotions. But don't think for one second that he wouldn't die for the king."

"That is something we will have to take into consideration," Arthur said carefully. Looking around the room, it was obvious that no one had gotten over the news. Gilbert said it bluntly to avoid any questions about it. There was no doubt. Feliciano was dead, shot straight through the head, he wasn't even twitching. No more breathing. Matthew had definitely killed him. "In any case, you have valuable information on their group. While we have this time, tell us everything important. You can start with who will be in command of the group now."

"Yeah," Gilbert swallowed thickly. Matthew was going to be in charge next, there was no doubt. As much as Gilbert wanted to hate the man for shooting someone that he cared so much about…he couldn't. He couldn't find the feeling swirling inside of him. Yes, there was irritation, yes there was a huge amount of sorrow, but there was no anger. And, yet, here he was, doing what he came there to do originally, betray the man that he'd grown to care about so much… "His name…" Gilbert hesitated slightly. Dammit… "His name's Matthew."

This was utterly humiliating. Matthew marched through the main building of the capital, alone, his head held high. He reached the doors and hesitated. He had to bring bad news to Ivan. Not only was the mission completely unsuccessful, ruined by a simple mistake, but Alfred and Gilbert had betrayed them. All he had with him was the body of a revolutionary. It was useless. The soldiers opened the doors for him when he finally nodded and he walked in carefully, kneeling before Ivan's throne as he did so. The king had no information of what happened during the mission, aside from possibly the mistake of Alfred getting arrested. Matthew clenched his hands into fists.

"Matthew, you are alone?" Ivan asked, extremely concerned for the welfare of Alfred, the man who had the audacity to betray the man before him. The man that had given them everything.

"I am terribly sorry, Your Majesty, we have failed in the mission you sent us on," Matthew said, his head bowed. "Not only were we unable to obtain information, but, after my shooting of a revolutionary, the two with me, Gilbert and Alfred…ran. I have not seen or heard from either since the betrayal…" Matthew's voice broke in that moment and he took a moment to calm himself before he continued. "Words cannot describe my failure, Your Majesty, and I can only hope you will allow yourself to forgive me."

"Matthew."

Matthew jumped at how close the voice was to him. He looked up in his surprise and was shocked to see that the king was kneeling in front of him, at eye level with him. He made eye contact and Matthew nearly burst into tears in that moment.

"This is not your fault," Ivan said carefully. "I am sorry for your loss, if there is anything I can do for you, do not hesitate to ask."

Matthew felt a temporary loss of all control and he lurched forward, clinging to the king in front of him tightly as he tried to fight the tears that continuously slipped past his guard. Ivan easily hugged him back delicately as Matthew continued. They stayed as they were for who knew how long as Matthew allowed his emotions to slip once again, all due to Alfred. Alfred had betrayed him, Gilbert had betrayed him…he couldn't…there were no words. There was nothing he could do, he was so useless!

"I am sorry, Your Majesty," Matthew said, eventually separating himself and collecting himself enough to carry on. Ivan nodded to him and carefully stood, only following when Matthew stood as well.

"Are you quite sure it was a betrayal?" Ivan asked.

"Yes," Matthew nodded. "As far as Gilbert is concerned, his face of recognition of the man I shot was enough to convict him. Alfred followed him and has not returned, nor have I received any form of message from him to alert me of any kind of plan. Your Majesty, they have both turned against the crown, it is necessary that they are considered criminals from this moment onwards."

"I understand," Ivan nodded. "For now, return home, I will give you information in the near future. I would recommend you be ready to search for your brother soon."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Matthew bowed to the man before turning to the door. He paused after a short moment. "Should I come in contact with either of them, do I have permission to kill them?"

"Only if you believe you can pull the trigger," Ivan said. "Though I only give you this permission, not the others. And I would prefer for Alfred to come back alive."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Matthew nodded, leaving out the door. He walked through the hallways with more assurance, leaving the building without looking at a single person. Within minutes, he had returned home for the first time. Elizabeta was the first to greet him, calling to him from the kitchen, but Matthew ignored her.

Instead, he turned to go into the room he used to share with Alfred, roughly pulling on the bed, hitting it harshly when it struggled to move. His anger was returning to him, this wasn't good. He knew he couldn't stand to be in the room Alfred had stayed and he knew he wouldn't even look at Gilbert's room again. How long were they planning this? Planning to betray them? Surely quite some time, considering how easy it was for the two of them.

"Where are Alfred and Gilbert?" Elizabeta asked carefully as Matthew pushed the bed through the door of his old room, fueled mostly by rage. The other door opened for him as he ignored her, shoving the bed in as forcefully as he could. The door skidded a few feet in front of him and the door closed behind him.

Obviously, neither his brother or Gilbert cared, about any of them. About Matthew. If he saw either of them, he would kill them himself, he was sure of it. Just thinking about them, Matthew kicked at the bed, letting out a small, angry cry. He was shaking, he knew that much. But he refused to cry. He couldn't shed any more tears over the two traitors. He took a deep breath. He could handle this, he had to. He was the new leader of the group now.

All he had to do was flip the switch on his emotions. Just turn them off.

I'll let you skip the part where Gilbert gives out all of the information you already know. Trust me, you all already know all of the information he's going to give you. And, if you ask me, Alfred and Matthew are both very bad at switching off their emotions like proper assassins, which is what makes them so good in my eyes. Anyway, now Matthew is sure that Alfred and Gilbert have betrayed him and the king, so he's a very angry child. It should also be noted that Yong Soo gave Alfred his information before he could give it to Matthew, so he doesn't know what Alfred does. Ivan, on the other hand, doesn't seem so stressed out. At least on the surface. Arthur, also, doesn't seem so freaked out, but he's a little more obvious about his real emotions. In any case, more action scenes to come up soon, so look forward to that!

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