Chapter 25. Caged Bird.

Alfred panted as he kept up with Lovino, following him through various turns through back streets and around buildings. Soon enough, they came back to the revolutionary town, where everyone had long gone to sleep. Lovino didn't so much as slow down and kept running, right for their temporary house. He wasted no time slamming the door open, into the dark house. Arthur was waiting, however, on the couch in the living room with his laptop sitting in front of him.

"What the fuck?" Lovino snapped as Arthur looked up at them calmly. "They knew we were coming? Did you know about that?"

"Who knew?" Arthur asked carefully.

"Kiku was there," Alfred reported, still just slightly breathless from the run. His legs were complaining and it hurt slightly. He couldn't do any maintenance on them without the proper equipment and he knew they were growing bad. When would he get a chance to get new prosthetics, anyway? Arthur's eyes widened in surprise at the news.

"They knew we were coming?" Arthur muttered, standing up to meet them. "How could they have known? Are the others alright?"

"Can't hear 'em over the headset," Lovino shook his head. "I don't know what happened, the bastards must have sent out a shockwave of some kind to knock out the headsets."

"They fucking knew," Gilbert panted behind them and Alfred turned around to see the two brothers walking in, seeming equally as tired as them.

"Who did you get?" Alfred asked.

"Matthew," Gilbert sighed, glancing at the ground. "He's a lot more collected now, that's for sure. But he ran away."

"Kiku did something similar," Alfred said and turned to Arthur, who looked at the four of them in interest. "He fought, but definitely not seriously, and then he ran for it. He could have won; he and I both know that."

"That was him holding back?" Lovino snapped. "And you weren't?"

"I haven't exactly had the time to keep up my skills," Alfred countered. "Kiku at least has had to chance to spar with someone and sharpen his abilities even more."

"That's not important now," Arthur said. "We need to wait for the other two, see if they encountered the same thing."

"Not even close," Antonio muttered. Alfred looked to the door again and found, this time, Antonio and Francis, heavily bruised and beaten, leaning on each other for support.

"Roderich," Alfred muttered.

"Shit," Gilbert rushed forward with Ludwig, both of them helping the two beaten teammates to the couch and helping them sit down.

"What happened?" Arthur pressed. Obviously the two were okay to talk, so this wouldn't press them. Alfred sighed. He could guess. He hadn't expected Roderich to act this…erratic about Elizabeta's death.

"He was crazy," Francis shivered slightly. "He pinned us in a corner and didn't even care if he shot civilians around him." Alfred frowned. The king had clearly told them to never kill someone who was innocent, never someone who wasn't a target, to eliminate chaos as well as cover-up.

"And then the other two showed up," Antonio said. "They…yelled at him. He wasn't going according to plan."

"I believe I heard Matthew telling him as we left that he was to not engage us seriously," Francis shook his head.

"How did you get out with all three of them there?" Gilbert asked. Alfred wondered the same thing as well. What was the king thinking, having them act like this? What kind of plan did this involve?

"They stopped him for us," Antonio hung his head. "Matthew and Kiku held him back, they didn't even look at us. We ran while we had the chance." Was this really the king's plan? He wouldn't create a plan where the goal was to confuse them, run away from them. Or was he just desperate? If he knew where they would be, did he know that they would attack in about a week?

"This doesn't make sense," Alfred muttered.

"These are not the movements of a man that fought for the original revolution," Arthur muttered, talking mostly to himself. "When he was a military leader, all of his plans were straight forward and never involved cowardice and running away…"

"Someone else is calling the shots," Alfred said and everyone else in the room looked up at him. "This isn't the king's orders. He has to be…busy with something. Especially with Roderich being allowed to act this way, Ivan isn't…in charge."

"I know how to deal with Ivan," Arthur sighed heavily, crossing is arms over his chest. "However, I can't deal with someone I don't even know. Do you know anyone that could be doing this?"

"No," Alfred shook his head.

"The only person I've even seen in that capital building that could call shots was him," Gilbert muttered.

"Are you sure about this?" Lovino asked Alfred.

"I know my king," Alfred said sharply. "He would never do something like this. But considering those three went along with this plan, he must have ordered it."

"There's no way to meet the other leaders in time to tell them about this," Arthur shook his head. "We will need to work with what we have. I had hoped that this would have worked better."

"If the plan was to cause chaos, then this was successful," Ludwig said simply. Arthur blinked at him. "They helped us cause chaos at our parties."

"Even more proof that this wasn't Ivan's plan," Arthur shook his head.

"I believe, at this point," Francis sighed heavily, "it would be best if we all just went to sleep."

"I don't even think I can stay awake for much longer, anyway," Antonio sighed.

"Are you all sure no one followed you?" Arthur asked.

"The only dumbass that followed me is right here," Lovino scoffed and Gilbert and Francis both shook their heads.

"Then sleep," Arthur said with a wave of his hand. "Alfred, stay here," he ordered as the others moved, Gilbert and Ludwig helping Francis and Antonio to their rooms first.

"What?" Alfred asked him bluntly once all of the doors had been closed.

"I apologize for what happened," Arthur sighed. Alfred knew immediately what he was talking about. He was talking about the chains. "You shouldn't have had to see that."

"Glad to see you recovered so nicely," Alfred said simply.

"Only two people in this group know," Arthur said simply. "I haven't a clue as to how Francis figured it out, but you are the only other one. The other leaders in charge of the revolution know as well and that is it. No one else alive knows this secret, do I make myself clear?"

"Is that all this is about?" Alfred rolled his eyes.

"Allow me to apologize, you…" Arthur struggled to find the right word, "…you, prat."

"You don't have anything to apologize for," Alfred said harshly, though he did truly mean it. "What, do you think you really need to apologize? The only thing you did wrong was be a hypocrite, but that's it. It's not your fault."

"I…" Arthur stopped himself. He let out a deep sigh, running his hand through his hair. "It wasn't entirely unpleasant. What happened before I…"

"I get it," Alfred gave a small smile. "But it never happened, right?"

"Of course," Arthur said, straightening out his clothes. "You should rest, you'll need it. Who knows when you'll get the opportunity again."

"Will you be staying up?" Alfred asked, not so much as twitching where he stood.

"I need to," Arthur sighed. "I have to think of something to do next. We can't just sit around forever."

"Then I'll stay up with you," Alfred said.

"Go to sleep, Alfred," Arthur sighed, sitting down on the couch and looking at his computer screen once again.

"I've gone longer without sleep," Alfred smirked, sitting down, though not beside Arthur.

"Prat," Arthur scoffed, but continued to work, anyway.

Matthew took a deep breath as he walked forward, towards the door. This was it. They had been given their assignment as a sort of note, as the king was, evidently, incredibly busy working with the revolutionaries. They did manage to have spies on their own (how Matthew didn't know about them, he had no idea) and they were able to figure out where they would act. Matthew received the orders and they were signed by the king himself, Matthew recognized the signature. Despite the fact that the orders were…odd, he was more than willing to go through with them.

Now, he was to report to the king himself, the next morning. The mission was…in theory, a success. Naturally, he would have to tell the king about Roderich and how he had killed a civilian. An innocent civilian. There would be repercussions to that, no matter what.

The soldiers on either side of the doors opened them for him and Matthew stepped through, into the room. Ivan was sitting at his throne as always, though his head rested on his fist and he appeared to be about ready to fall asleep. Matthew's stomach was in knots. He took a deep breath as he stepped forward.

"The mission was a success," Matthew said simply. He decided to go with Kiku's original plan; don't kneel in front of him, treat him like a man, rather than a king. Ivan seemed…surprised, to say the least. He lifted his head and nodded to Matthew.

"Right," Ivan nodded. "Who was there? On the other side."

"For me, I saw Gilbert and Ludwig," Matthew reported. He found himself actually having trouble not referring to Ivan as 'Your Majesty', but he swallowed it for the time being. "Kiku saw Alfred and Lovino. Roderich saw Antonio and Francis. Arthur was nowhere to be seen."

"I see," Ivan nodded. "Did they follow any of you after you ran?"

"No, Y-" Matthew shook his head and bit his lip. He nearly messed up again. Ivan did appear to be interested, though, which was a good thing. He looked completely exhausted and Matthew was curious as to what he had been doing lately. "I must report to you, however, on Roderich's conduct on the field. He did not obey the orders of the mission and he shot a civilian."

"I see," Ivan said. He was quiet for a moment and Matthew allowed for him to think. "Were you able to find the name of the man he shot?"

Matthew smiled slightly. He respected Alfred's need to memorize the names and faces of those that they killed. After all, who else would remember them? Matthew had made sure he found out the identity of the man he had killed. He gave the name to Ivan, who seemed to recognize it and nodded.

"Good," Ivan nodded and Matthew blinked in surprise. "I was worried he had been an innocent civilian."

"Your…If you don't mind me asking," Matthew shook his head, overcoming his slipup once again. "How is he not innocent?"

"That is a rather long story," Ivan muttered. "He sold…interesting wares. Illegal to sell in public, though perfectly legal in private. I do not believe his wares are quite…stomachable. He was no loss to this society."

"Is there anything else you could tell me?" Matthew asked.

"This is not a matter you need to concern yourself with," Ivan held his hand up, shaking his head. "I do have a new job for your team, for the time being. If the revolutionaries really are moving as we expect they are, we will need to act quickly. I have a feeling I know of their next target. As you know, Yong Soo, Yao's old advisor has taken refuge with us, informing us about at least Yao's betrayal of this country. I will need you three to protect him for the next few days."

"What of your safety?" Matthew pressed. "If they will be acting soon-"

"As far as Yong Soo knows," Ivan said, cutting him off, "they don't plan on attacking now. He doesn't think the people involved can move that quickly, though I am doubting Merkatus can actually mobilize against us. In a few days, you three will focus your energy on the capital to keep the citizens and myself safe. Now, however, you should guarantee the safety of one of our best informants."

"Of course," Matthew nodded.

"You may go now, Matthew," Ivan nodded to him. "I will talk with you about Roderich's punishment for his actions later." Matthew smiled and turned towards the door. Just as he reached it and nearly pushed it open, however, Ivan stopped him with two simple words. "Thank you."

"I don't know what you're thanking me for," Matthew's smile grew as he left the room, leaving the king alone. Matthew bit his lip as he walked down the hallway. He stopped just before the doors, where there was another hallway intersecting the one he was currently in. There were computers further down that hallway…

Matthew quickly darted down, avoiding a few of the people and soldiers walking around. He quickly got onto the computer and the internet, using the codes Ivan had given him to access any information in their country he could get. The man that Roderich had killed…Ivan had been far too vague. Matthew searched his name and the man turned up easily in the search. Many people were mourning his death, though not allowing their work to be interrupted. Typing in a few, simple keywords, Matthew narrowed his search to his job and money. He worked as a merchant, though on the surface, it didn't say what he sold.

Matthew looked into his most recent business deals. A shipment of fairly large size coming in from the…coast? He had paid a hefty price to ensure the safety of the packages. They sure weighed a lot, too. Matthew tracked his latest business transaction to another wealthy nobleman, lavishly rich. Matthew turned back to the original subject of his search. He looked through the list of his servants and found nothing odd…He looked through the list of his belongings. Naturally, everything was to be recorded during this time of need, what with the revolutionaries breathing down their necks. That was when Matthew found something strange in the list of belongings. A name.

James.

Matthew clicked on it, as that would normally turn up an image of the object, taken by the owner in the best condition possible. It was a man, with bags under his eyes deeper than Ivan's and incredibly thin arms and legs. Matthew stared in shock for a short while before he looked through more of the man's belongings. There were more names. All of them were similar to that man. No last names, just first ones. It hardly looked like they had souls inside of them at all. Were they…slaves?

Matthew looked further into the latest business interaction and found that it was three…objects. Three names, all women.

"What?" Matthew sat back slightly, shaking his head. Ivan had said that it was…legal in private. Slave trading? In this country? But…

That was when it hit Matthew. Elizabeta had never been able to find Arthur. She was looking through people. Maybe…

Matthew decided to try with what he had right then, he might get lucky. He opened up all of the business interactions this dead man had when he was alive. There were enough to make Matthew sick. Surely the king had a reason for making something like this legal, surely there was a good reason for this. Still, Matthew was able to guess Arthur's age based on the information Alfred had given him and was able to narrow his search down to those years. And then he found it.

Arthur. A five year old boy. Nineteen years ago. Matthew carefully opened the picture, though the quality was far from good. It was a perfect, smaller version of the image of Arthur they all had. Flat, blonde hair, dead green eyes, loose fitting clothes that betrayed many, many bruises. Matthew let out a small breath. He was a slave…How did he get out of it?

Matthew continued his search, to the man that had bought Arthur. There was no movement from the man for…years. Then, fourteen years ago, when Arthur was ten, he was sold once more. He looked no stronger than the last image Matthew had seen, just slightly taller. He was unhealthily thin, and his eyes were not only dull, but…afraid. Of what would happen if he were to so much as twitch in this picture. The clothes were still loose and the bruises were black, blue, yellow…fingerprints. The boy looked about ready to cry any second. That didn't sound anything like the leader Alfred had told them about for this revolutionary group.

He was sold to a woman, interestingly enough. A woman of the name Kirkland. Matthew remembered that face. Roderich's first kill on their team…All those years ago. Arthur was listed among her belongings…but the manor stayed up and running for…years after the woman of the house died, despite only servants and a slave remaining. When the house disappeared, so did Arthur.

Matthew pushed away from the computer, the chair scraping against the ground, though not attracting any attention to him. He had found Arthur, but he had also found out a secret he didn't know this country had. The king…allowed slavery? Why? He had to have a reason, but this was something vile and horrible. The king was not a man to allow such a thing, why did he allow this? Matthew felt his hands shaking as he closed out of the computer, erasing all evidence that he was there at all. To everyone but him, Arthur was going to remain a mystery. He didn't exist. He was just like Alfred and Matthew.

Ivan sighed happily as he watched Matthew leave. It was just like old times…a child unafraid of his title, willing to talk to him like a human being. It was nice. And he at least received some good news. Alfred was alive and still able to fight back Kiku, whether or not he was fighting seriously. And a man that had traded slaves for money was dead. By Roderich's hand. Ivan's hands were free of this, it was an accident. What could the nobles in charge honestly say against him? How was this his fault when it was their horrible plan? Don't engage seriously? Run away? Make them think they had won?

Alfred and Gilbert would look through that in an instant. They both knew when the team was fighting to the fullest extent.

"Your Majesty," the doors opened and a voice said calmly. Ivan's smile dropped. The noblemen filed in and Ivan sighed, leaning back heavily in his chair as the doors closed, leaving him alone with the real leaders of the country. "I am sure you have heard the news that one of your lackeys has killed a very influential man."

"I have," Ivan said simply. "I will be punishing him as I see fit. I have told them all clearly that they are not to kill civilians."

"Good," another nobleman said stiffly. "He was rich and now his money has fallen to two children and his wife. Not to mention the amount of merchandise he still had yet to sell…"

"Were you intending to buy from him?" Ivan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Your Majesty," a nobleman laughed. "You do not intend to think that my wife or I would stoop to mere housework when I can simply purchase something to do it for me."

"Of course," Ivan said through clenched teeth. Slavery in itself disgusted him, but it wasn't his choice to make. It never was. What the nobles wanted went, after all. They wanted slavery? They got it, Ivan merely held it back by only permitting it in private. "Anything else you wish to speak of with me?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," another nobleman said simply, stepping forward. In that moment, Ivan's small phone buzzed slightly in his pocket. With interest, he pulled it out, motioning for the man to continue. "We cannot simply rely on Yong Soo's information on this matter. We must act swiftly, attack them first."

"Do you know of their location?" Ivan asked with interest. He was experienced with this; battle strategies. That was his area of expertise. He looked at his phone, however, and his interest piqued. Someone had used his codes to access the internet. He was informed of it every time, he even knew the location. Alfred had used it not too long ago, but of course he had never told anyone of that. This was Matthew, looking into the man that Roderich had killed. Interesting. What would he find?

"No," a nobleman said, flustered.

"Then how do you intend to attack them?" Ivan sighed.

"Then what is your suggestion, Your Majesty?" a noble sneered at him. "We wait for them to attack while we're defenseless?"

"Are we defenseless?" Ivan asked simply. Matthew had discovered that the man owned slaves. That was rather quick, now wasn't it? "We have soldiers, we have my three, and I do know how to fight, as you all know."

"We would never ask our king to fight for us," a noble bowed his head.

"Naturally," Ivan rolled his eyes. "You do what you want, you always do." Matthew had connected something about this man and the past, now that was interesting. What was he looking into? "You know what is best, after all, don't you?" Ivan smirked and the nobles glared at him.

"We can't wait for the armies of the countries around us to move, we can't fight against that," a nobleman said simply. "We need to attack the revolutionaries within our country first."

"They are protected by the armies of the surrounding nations," Ivan said clearly. "You do not have the luxury anymore to act freely. That is an assumption you seem to keep." Ivan knew about battle strategies, he had used them, failed with them, won with them. He had created them. These nobles had done none of that and it was time to educate them. "You had the opportunity to do what you want in the past, but you insisted that you were safe and did nothing. It is too late now and that is due to no other fault than your own. Your only option is to wait, give yourself the home field advantage, and win from there. Surely you know your side is best, naturally, and so the people will rally with you, if you are so confident about that. This is no different than what happened years ago when we took power, we are simply the ones protecting."

"Times have changed since that day," a noble scoffed.

"Yes, rather than simple babies crying in their cribs, we have assassins," Ivan rolled his eyes. "They have assassins as well. Rather than someone like me in charge of the revolution, they have Arthur, a mystery man with no origin. There is still a king on this side and you may use this puppet how you will, but if you intend to live, do as I say. Wait."

"Of course, your majesty," a nobleman said through clenched teeth. The nobles whispered amongst themselves as they left the room and Ivan rolled his eyes, looking back at his phone, which he nearly dropped with the new information he had seen. Arthur was a slave.

Well, that was certainly interesting.

Whew, this chapter man. This chapter. Originally, Roderich just killed some guy, but then this fabulous idea bloomed in my mind and I love it! And, no, that guy (or the slave I named) was not a Hetalia character. It gives just enough glimpse into the past, but not giving too much away, and it wraps up that bit of skeleton in Arthur's closet, despite the fact that he really has no idea this happened. And Ivan's getting a bit of a backbone, how interesting. A little glimpse at his past as well. This is getting fun, guys. But I don't think we're that close to an end, really. I still have some important steps planned before the end, then we have all of the backstories and such.

Also, something funny I noticed, personally, from last chapter…I titled it Bad Wolf (and if people were paying attention from earlier chapters, they would know I'm basing all of these chapter titles on songs, this one from AWOLNATION) and a lot of people were making Doctor Who references. I loved them all, don't get me wrong, I just found the whole situation funny. As I was writing the chapter name, I was like "hmm. Maybe people will think of Doctor Who instead of the song." And I paused for a moment and then said "Nah, this is fine." This is also the first time people have actually shown that they look at the chapter titles, too, which is also funny in itself.

Anyway, don't mind me, I'm hyper and writing a lot since I haven't written much (not writing for two weeks in a row is killer on me!) so I'm going to stop talking. Please review!