Chapter 14. Alone Together.

The night, for Alfred, was rough and restless. Every time he closed his eyes, he thought of his brother, of Ivan, of all of the others he left behind because of some stupid decision. He was inundated with thoughts of 'what ifs'; what if he had told Matthew about Gilbert, what if he had stayed with Matthew, what if he had killed Feliciano himself. But this was the current present he was living in now. It didn't matter…all of the choices he could have made. All that mattered was the fact that he had chosen his path and he couldn't turn back now. Matthew wouldn't take him back…and the king certainly would never take back a traitor like him.

Alfred could hear the sound of talking, of shouting…through the door. He couldn't hear the words, but he could hear the emotion, what he couldn't feel. He could hear the voices crack, he could hear the stomping feet, the long stretches of pained silence. He had felt…something at the sight of Feliciano's loss, but nothing like that. His heart had faltered…for perhaps a second. Past that, however, there was nothing. There was no sorrow or guilt. He was just another face that he had already memorized.

Silence stretched as long as the terribly long night after they had fallen asleep. They…The team he was now a part of…Was he really a part of it, though? He had seen the way they acted around each other. The way they would laugh and treat each other like a family. Feliciano would make them smile, make them laugh. Antonio and Ludwig would tolerate Lovino's constant anger. Arthur would attempt to keep Francis in line. They were…happy. Even when Alfred compared it to his former group…they weren't anything like that. Yes, they laughed and they joked, but Gilbert was most of the life…and he wasn't even a part of the team, was he? The most emotion Alfred had felt was how much he cared for his brother.

Not like that mattered now…

Alfred fell in and out of sleep for quite some time, never falling deep enough to actually call it sleep. After a few hours, when he heard people walking around again, but not talking, he decided to do something. He couldn't sit around and be useless for this long, after all. If he was to really be a part of this new team, he would have to find some way to prove himself. He could no longer be loyal to his old team, he had to find some way to convince himself of being loyal to this one.

He walked slowly and carefully out of the room, so as not to put any of the other people in the small house on edge. It was lit as lightly as any other house in the capital, with the cold steel walls and hardly any windows, cold, unfeeling lights staring down at them. He walked by an open door only to see Ludwig placing equipment into a bag, mostly weapons. Ludwig had seen him and only so much as glanced in his direction, choosing to ignore him for the time being. At least he wasn't seen as a threat…

Alfred continued until he reached the living room that he had only barely seen the night before. He clenched his jaw when he noticed himself trembling slightly, recalling the events before. He couldn't allow himself to be that weak again, especially in front of someone who used to be the enemy. Once he entered the living room, he found Arthur alone, sitting on the couch and working on a small laptop. Arthur noticed him immediately when he walked into the room, but chose to be quiet, at least for a small while. Alfred wasn't sure what to say in this kind of situation at all…

"I see you didn't sleep much last night," Arthur spoke first, not looking up from his work on his computer.

"No," Alfred said bluntly. That part was obvious, so why did Arthur have to pay such close attention to it?

"I'm not about to ask any of your reasons," Arthur sighed, closing the laptop and looking up at Alfred. That was when Alfred noticed, on the cheek he hadn't seen before, that there was an angry bruise. It was haphazardly covered and it seemed as though Arthur wasn't paying much attention to it, despite the fact that Alfred could tell that it definitely would hurt, even him. "Though I do expect to have some eventually. Though I can tell that you aren't bluffing, so I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. We're leaving today now that we aren't waiting for anyone else. It's not safe here for any length of time. If you want to make yourself useful, help Antonio. He'll be just down the other hallway, I'm sure his door will be open. He's least likely to attempt anything to you after what happened."

"You have a bruise," Alfred said simply. "It wasn't there last night." Arthur looked directly into his eyes.

"As I said, Antonio is the least likely to try anything," Arthur said, standing up and cricking his neck as if nothing had happened. "My best suggestion for you is to not go near Lovino. He's become rather unpredictable."

"He hit you." It wasn't a question. Alfred's only question was why…Why did Lovino hit Arthur about Feliciano when the best person for him to hit in his anger would have been Alfred?

"This is nothing," Arthur said, walking in the direction of the hallway Alfred had just come from. "I'm used to worse. I will be with Francis, if you have any other questions." Alfred noticed a small change in Arthur's eyes as he talked about the wound, but it was gone as fast as it appeared.

"Tell Lovino to hit the person responsible next time," Alfred stated. "The outcome is a lot more satisfying."

"I'll be sure to tell him that," Arthur said, a small smile tugging on his lips. He disappeared into a door down the hallway and Alfred walked quickly to where he was told to go. He was sure that Arthur had already insinuated to Antonio that, if Alfred had woken up, he would have gone there. He wasn't going to be a burden, he refused. He was more capable than to just be useless, no matter the situation at hand.

Sure enough, the door was open, and Alfred could see Antonio with his own bag, already with equipment stuffed inside of it. Technology, ammo, weapons. Currently, however, he was positioned in front of one of the few windows, the blinds covering most of the light. He was looking through his sniper rifle, staring into the street intently. He moved minutely, informing Alfred that he was aware of his presence, but he was focusing. Alfred stood still in the doorway for a while, almost curious about what the man was doing with his gun, acting like that in the middle of the capital.

Finally, Antonio let out a small laugh, relaxing his stance and looking back at Alfred.

"Damn soldier wouldn't go away," Antonio chuckled slightly and Alfred nodded numbly. "So you're finally up, huh? Arthur told me he'd send you my way." Thought he was smiling, Alfred noticed that it was definitely different, it faltered slightly. Alfred was almost curious about what those feelings he should have been feeling were like. "Gotta say, I don't really need any help, I guess he just figured I'm the safest to be with. I'm sure if he could've put you with Ludwig, but he's a little pissed, too, huh? I'm one of the least likely people Lovino will be around anyway."

So they really were trying to keep him away from Lovino…It made sense, but it was almost annoying. "So what do you need me to do, then?"

"I've got some other stuff I need to go and get from around the house," Antonio shrugged. "I guess just keep acting as scout while I'm gone. No one should suspect anything, but we can't have soldiers knocking on the door. Especially after you went back, all of our names and faces have been pretty well known."

"Right," Alfred nodded as Antonio left, his smile falling to a frown the second he left the room. Alfred slumped slightly. This was definitely a different air than before. Just how important was Feliciano to everyone in the group? Alfred walked up to the desk that the rifle was sitting on and looked out the window. The streets were empty of people or life, a stark difference from the country he had recently been in. There was no soldier in sight, but Alfred could see the main street just a short distance away. That probably held the most people he could see. Most people living in the surrounding houses would have to be working at this time of the day.

Alfred was only alone for about five minutes before Antonio came back.

"It's quiet, huh?" Antonio smiled that fake smile once again at him and Alfred nodded as he stored more equipment into the bag, humming a light tune as he went. Alfred continued to look out of the window, into the familiar gray city. It was rare for a house to have windows, though they had apparently managed to pull a few strings to get this spot. Alfred could clearly see the largest building in the capital from his position. It was so close…it almost put Alfred on edge. "Get ready," Antonio said simply as he picked up his rifle and began to disassemble it. Alfred guessed that, whatever Arthur had planned, they wouldn't need a sniper for it. "Oh, yeah, Arthur said that I should give you a gun, you alright with a pistol? We're a little low on supplies at the moment, couldn't bring a lot this close, you know how it is."

"A pistol's fine," Alfred nodded and Antonio nodded right back. He continued to hum the little tune as he quickly packed his gun into a surprisingly small case, putting it into the bag. He rummaged in it for a short while before producing a pistol. He checked to make sure it had all six bullets it could hold, and then tossed it to Alfred, who caught it easily. At least now he had a real weapon he could use.

"Oi! Antonio! Are you quite ready yet?" Arthur snapped from the living room.

"Don't be so impatient!" Antonio called back with a small, fake laugh. He closed up the bag, which he could easily carry on his back and left the room. Alfred followed after him and he could see the entirety of the revolutionary group assembled in the living room. All of them had a bag slung on their backs, though Alfred noticed that Lovino was holding two.

Immediately after Lovino noticed him, he marched over to him and dropped the bag, leaving Alfred to catch it.

"That's the share Feliciano used to carry," Lovino said gruffly. It was obvious he was holding back his anger. "You can at least pull some weight now." With that he swiftly turned on his heel and stood on his own, near the back of the group. Alfred sighed and slung the bag over his shoulder.

"Is everyone ready, then?" Arthur asked from the door, where he stood beside Gilbert, who seemed to refuse to look in Alfred's direction. No one made any sound to say otherwise.

"Awesome," Gilbert nodded with a grin. "I'll head out for distraction, then. See all you losers at the new place!" With that, Gilbert happily left the house, pistol obviously in hand. He was going to do something stupid, wasn't he? Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Alfred, stay close to me, you're the only one that I wasn't able to tell the location of our new hideout," Arthur said simply. "Everyone, try to stay together, but if we get separated, keep going, don't wait for anyone."

"I'm tired of waiting, can we just fucking move?" Lovino snapped. Arthur sighed and opened the door, moving out of the way for the others to move out first. He nodded his head to the door to motion for Alfred when he was the last and he quickly moved as well. He could already hear the soldiers moving and Gilbert laughing happily as he ran away from them. Alfred turned to follow where the others were moving. They ran until they reached a point where the shadows could easily hide them. Alfred knew this part well. Moving without having people see you while reaching a destination was at least something he was familiar with.

"Best keep up," Arthur smirked simply, easily jogging past him, his footsteps quiet as he went ahead of Alfred and around a corner. Alfred raised an eyebrow. Was he trying to race him? During a stealth mission? Alfred snorted slightly, but started moving a little faster, ducking between the shadows, feeling the most at home he had been in quite some time.

Matthew slumped into his seat at the table. He was still a little tired from the mission he had been on earlier that day. He had gone alone, despite the king suggesting that he take another person with him. It was a perfect way to let off some steam now that he didn't have someone to spar with anymore.

"I'm a little worried about you," Elizabeta said, sitting down carefully beside him. Roderich was cooking with Kiku, neither of them saying much, aside from what was necessary to work together. "This was the second mission you went on alone since you got back, isn't it? That's not a very long time."

"I'll do whatever the king needs me to," Matthew muttered, looking at the table and not at any of the others in the room.

"But you don't need to alone," Elizabeta pressed. "I understand how you must feel, but-"

"You don't understand," Matthew shook his head.

"They were our friends, too," Elizabeta said seriously.

"And they were more than friends to me," Matthew stated, looking her in the eyes now. "Stop trying to make me feel better, I'm fine."

"I say we set this quarrel aside for now," Kiku sighed, standing beside the table to set down one of the dishes he had made. "There is no better healer than time for cases like this." Matthew huffed slightly from where he sat, staring at the food. He was far from hungry, but he knew that it was a horrible idea to skip any kind of meal. Roderich brought over more food, placing it carefully before sitting down beside Elizabeta. Kiku sat on the other side of the table. It was silent at first as they ate. "Matthew, if you would not mind, I would like to go with you on the next mission."

"Fine," Matthew nodded. He would have preferred to go alone again. It was fine when he was alone if he let his emotions get the better of him occasionally. There were a few times he had gone overboard, but it was fine if they were an enemy of the king. With Kiku there, he would have to be much more careful. "Will all of you stop being so concerned for me, I'm fine, for the last time."

"Of course," Roderich nodded in agreement with him. "I would love to have a chance to cook with you again in the near future. I'm afraid it's been rather lonely without you. As good of company as Kiku is, your cooking is unparalleled."

"I think that'd be a good idea," Matthew relaxed slightly with a small smile. Cooking would also be a welcome distraction for him…It wasn't a bad idea… "Maybe tomorrow morning we can make pancakes, alright?"

"That would be fantastic!" Elizabeta smiled. "You haven't made pancakes in weeks!"

Matthew smiled back, taking a small bite of the food in front of him. He looked at the two empty places at the table and let out a small sigh, looking at his food. It was hard to get used to how quiet it was now without Alfred or Gilbert here. But he couldn't feel bad just because they were gone. They weren't worthy of the feeling. They had both betrayed the king and him…He couldn't forgive them. He just hoped they could find them soon and then Matthew could get the closure he properly needed with those two.

I'm so sorry I'm so late guys! I went to go look at a college and I thought I had more time to put this stuff up than I did...But, don't worry, I'll make it up to you guys by updating again tomorrow! I have spring break and plenty of time! And then everything will be back to normal starting next weekend!

Anyway small glimpse at how Matthew's doing there at the bottom. You guys have no idea how rough of a time I had with this chapter, which is mostly filler and I'm sorry…But we do see how Arthur's group is dealing with the recent loss. A lot of sad chapters right after each other, huh? I'm sorry for all of the depression, hopefully next chapter might brighten up a little bit, eh? I just had major writer's block because I had nothing planned between Alfred joining the group and the next plot point. I'm sorry about that, but we'll get on track again soon, I promise you!

So please review! It's totally awesome!