As Alfred walked down the hall to meet Matthew in the cafeteria, he heard someone yelling his name. Turning around he saw a short boy with curly brown hair running towards him.

"Jason!" he called back, hurrying over to him. The two hugged and shared a quick kiss. "I've missed you!"

"I missed you too! Where have you been?!" He pulled away to look the other in the eyes. "You missed our date and when I went to your house I found it empty!"

"It's a really long story…" Alfred said, sighing. "Come to lunch with me and Mattie and we can explain, okay?"

The other boy nodded.

"Okay."

Alfred smiled and took his hand, walking with him to the cafeteria talking about their classes.

Once they had their food, they snagged a table and waited for Matthew to join them.

"Oh! Bonjour Jason!" the blond said in surprise when he reached the table and saw the familiar boy sitting with his brother. "How have you been?"

Jason smiled at him.

"I've been fine but what about you? Alfred said he would tell me what's going on when you got here."

Matthew looked at Alfred curiously before leaning over to whisper in his ear, "Do you really think that's a good idea? This whole thing is so strange and it might be dangerous for him to know…"

"I think it'll be fine. I just have this feeling that it will be," he replied in a quiet voice.

The younger blond nodded.

"Alright…if you're sure…"

Alfred nodded back and turned to Jason.

"I'm going to try to keep this short." He took a deep breath and began, speaking quietly in the loud cafeteria so no one passing by could hear. "First of all, I'm really sorry that I missed our date but that afternoon something really strange happened. A bunch of men broke into our house and took all of us away from our dads, sending them to jail and saying that they had kidnapped us. We were forced to live in this weird building and while we were there we weren't treated very well and the people who ran the place blamed our injuries on our dads. The trial went on for weeks, our dads trying desperately to get us back, but the judge was against them from the start. It eventually ended with them being declared 'guilty' and given the death sentence. Ange, Emily, and Leon were given back to their 'real parents' and the rest of us were sent to an orphanage where we live now." He sighed as he finished, letting his head fall to look at the ground.

Jason stared at him before reaching over and taking his hand.

"I'm so, Alfred. I'm so sorry. I can't believe your dads are actually dead…"

The other's head shot back up.

"They aren't."

Jason looked confused.

"What? You said they were given the death sentence so shouldn't they be dead now…?"

"I doubt that they are," Matthew replied easily. "Our pères are very tough and are very hard to kill. I'm almost positive that they are still alive."

"But…'death sentence'…That implies that they were killed."

"Just trust us," Matthew continued, looking serious. "You'll see. They'll turn up eventually and get us back."

Jason didn't look convinced.

"And if they don't?"

"Then I wait until I'm eighteen and I'll adopt Mattie and the others," Alfred answered in a determined voice. "That's only three years away. We can make it that long…probably…" He let out a long sigh. "I just wish that Chelle didn't have to go through this…she's only five and she can't even talk to the family she currently has left…" Getting an idea, he looked up at Jason. "Jase, can you do me a favor…?"

The other nodded quickly.

"Of course, Alfred. What is it?"

Alfred moved closer to him, looking him in the eye.

"Can you ask your parents to adopt Chelle? Please? I can't stand the thought of her staying at that place! She needs a family!"

"I don't know…they might ask questions about why she's in an orphanage in the first place and not be very willing to take her…" Jason responded, uneasy.

"Please, Jason!" Matthew whispered frantically. "We can't leave her there! She's so little! We can't even talk to her! Please don't make her stay in that place!"

Putting his hands up in defense, he quickly said, "Okay okay! I'll ask them! But I can't promise anything!"

Alfred leapt up and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Jason! You have no idea how much this means to all of us! Even our dads!" He kissed him and sat back down, holding his hand again. "Thank you so much!"

"You know I would do anything for you, Alfred."

"Thank you, Jason."

"Of course, Alfred," he said with a smile.

Francis was sitting on the bare thread cot he had been given with Arthur's head resting in his lap. Looking down he saw the man still looked sickly, a green color still evident in his face. The other moaned weakly, obviously still in pain, and Francis stroked his hair, ignoring the small shocks he was receiving. "Ssh, mon cher. It will pass," he whispered soothingly. "Just try and rest."

"C-Can't," he whimpered out. "S-Stomach…t-torn…."

Quickly turning his head, he vomited onto the floor. Tears ran down his face and Francis tried to comfort him as best he could; rubbing his back and cooing to him.

"F-Francis," the younger managed to pant out. "H-How…are y-you…s-so…c-calm? D-Don't…" He took a deep breath before starting again. "D-Don't…d-don't you…h-hurt…?"

The other nodded.

"Oui, mon petit lapin, but I am more concerned with you right now. I will get better."

The other tugged lightly on Francis' shirt.

"C-Can…c-can I s-see?"

Sighing, Francis obliged; pulling his shirt off and turning sideways so Arthur could see his back.

Arthur weakly reached up and traced the holes in Francis' back.

"S-Seven…s-seven h-holes…"

Francis nodded.

"Oui, mon chaton. Seven holes from seven bullets."

The Englishman frowned.

"Th-This o-one…" His finger shook over one hole and slipped into it for just a moment causing the other to hiss in pain. "S-Sorry, l-love." He tried again. "Th-This o-one…g-goes th-through…y-your h-heart…" he whispered sadly. "Th-They a-aren't…a-allowed…t-to t-touch…th-that…" He sucked in another breath and tried to keep the room from spinning, keeping still and silent for a few moments before continuing. "O-Only…o-only I-I…can t-touch…th-that…"

Francis looked over his shoulder at his beloved, smiling lovingly.

"You already have in so many ways, mon amour." He leaned down and kissed the man gently, pulling away when his own stomach turned against him. "That was some vile stuff they gave us."

Arthur nodded in agreement.

Wanting his love to get healthy again, Francis started singing quietly into his ear. Soon enough the lullaby put the man to sleep and Francis watched him, holding him tightly, protecting him from this place, and stroking his hair again to help him sleep.

AN: So I've had this all written for ages but I kept messing with it and changing the order of things but I finally found an timeline I like!

I'm really fond of the Francis and Arthur sections so those are very easy to write but the sections with the kids only (especially now) really make me struggle so that's part of the reason it took me so long to get this posted. I know I shouldn't be making excuses but that's really the case and thought you guys should know. I'm going to try (NO PROMISES) to get another chapter for 'ANE' up within a week or two and I'm working on something I think you all have been waiting for~ ;) Well...everyone who cares anyway...