Here come the troubles...

Warning: Angst, injuries, RusAme fluff.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HETALIA. I have fun manipulating their characters, though

Safehouse

They were in the town within ten minutes, Francis helping Matthew limp along and Ivan carrying the still unconscious Sadiq.

The group made sure to stay as hidden as possible, even though the town appeared abandoned. They kept to the shadows and as quiet as death.

Alfred chose a house placed a good distance away from most of the others. The place was two stories tall with a basement. Most of the furniture was intact as well as the windows, though it looked to have been looted, as a T.V. stand devoid of said device thus proved. Glass littered the floor beneath some windows and the lock on the front door was completely punched in, a hole in the wood from where it was once nailed.

Ludwig studied it. "I don't like that. We will have to board this door up."

"How the hell will we get out, then, potato dumbass?" Lovino hissed back, using his scorn to hide his fear.

"There is a door at the back." Ivan said, returning to the living room after inspecting the house, having placed Sadiq on the couch upon entry. "And the lock is still intact."

"The windows will have to be boarded, too." Yao added.

"The hammer falls will echo throughout the town." Arthur said, sitting down in a torn armchair. "Let's hope that everyone truly has left."

"We will go out tomorrow," Alfred said. "We'll get wood and check around. But one whiff of another person and we're out. We can't afford to take anymore risks."

Francis helped Matthew to a chair and sat him down in it. "Try not to move, d'accord, lapin?" He then said to Alfred, "You will have to fix his knee."

Alfred nodded and knelt in front of his brother. "Hold his legs down." he instructed Francis, and the Frenchman complied. He then looked up at Matthew, who looked pale and was breathing rather heavily. "This is gonna hurt a little."

"Dammit, Al," Matthew said, squinting his eyes shut. "You don't have to tell me. Just get on with it."

Alfred looked back down at Matthew's dislocated knee and grabbed the Canadian's ankle. Gently, he lifted the leg until it was at a forty-five degree angle. At that point, Matthew yelped and said, "N-no, Alfred. Stop."

Alfred set his leg back down. He felt guilty that Matthew was like this. He should have looked out more for his brother. "I'm gonna try again. Tell me when you can't go any further."

Matthew nodded and bit his lip, Alfred moving his leg slowly upwards again. The process of ups and downs continued until tears escaped Matthew's eyes at the pain. It felt like his whole leg was on fire.

The whole while, Francis held Matthew's thighs down, keeping him from jerking away in pain and further hurting himself. He saw Matthew crying and he said, "I'm sorry, mon cher, I should have been there for you. This is all my fault. I'm the one who should be looking out for you. I don't know what I was thinking…" His eyes blurred with tears and he looked back down at Matthew's trembling thighs. It hurt him seeing Matthew in pain like this. It hurt him even worse knowing that he could have prevented it if only he hadn't raced like a coward into the trees, not minding to check and see if Matthew was behind him.

I will never let him get hurt again. Francis promised himself.

Arthur eventually came up and put a hand on Alfred's shoulder. "That's enough for now, I think. He will need further exercises to put it back in place, but let him rest for the night."

Matthew moved his leg out of Alfred's grip, as if afraid the American wouldn't listen to Arthur and keep on going. He was embarrassed that he was crying in front of all the other nations; he was embarrassed, being the one who often hiked in the wilderness and knew every risk and precaution, that he was the one to be careless enough to be injured. "Thanks… is Sadiq still knocked out?"

"Yao is tending to him." Arthur replied. "His pulse has strengthened, and that's good, but he hasn't opened his eyes."

"What's wrong with him?" Feliciano inquired from his place sitting on the floor beside the couch that Sadiq was laying on, watching Yao administer to him. "Is he sick?"

"He has a fever," Yao confirmed, dabbing the Turk's forehead with a damp piece of cloth torn from the sleeve of his changshan. "His ankle… it is swollen."

"An infection," Gilbert said, sitting across the room, canteen in hand. Ludwig had been dubiously watching him as he gave instructions for Gilbert to drink water. "I've had one of those before in a wound. It was a bitch, but my awesomeness got me through it." Ludwig glared down at him and Gilbert shut up, taking another mouthful of water.

"We are no longer nations." Ivan said, staring at the wall. "We cannot recover from a wound as quickly as we once could. We are mere humans now, and humans die from this all of the time without proper medical treatment."

Feliciano's eyes filled with tears. "Then he is going to die?"

"Don't get yourself into a fit, fratello," Lovino said, though his voice was shaky at the thought of them being susceptible to anything and everything now. They were all like delicate eggs just waiting to be crushed. "He has a chance, so he could make it. God knows the bastard is determined as hell…"

They all sat around in a circle on the torn and sullied living room rug that night, too afraid to start a fire for who the smoke may attract. Alfred brought out the radio he'd snagged from the burning cabin and placed it in the center, twiddling the knob to find a working station. It took about five minutes, and all of them were tense throughout, but a voice finally faded into being.

"… thing is gone. All the monuments, all the national symbols, everything that identifies with what this lying, cheating country is, is now destroyed. Your leaders have been murdered. We saw fit to exterminate all those who brought about this crisis so that we may establish a new order."

Alfred was scowling, wishing he could blow the guy up just by glaring at the radio.

"This is the dawn of a new era of government, and we shall be the first to lead it. For all of those who have known us recently, we are Organization Coup, but seeing as the coup has been successfully carried out, we will now style ourselves as The Fellowship of Man. Even as I am speaking we are making a place for ourselves in the capital. We have driven out or executed all officials of the old regime and are rebuilding and reworking the government in a way that we consider the best for the people.

"Our former way of government was harmful and reckless to our society to the point that we could not function under it. Democracy is a dead art—no true freedom is derived from it, as you have all recently witnessed. It was only a mask for more devious activities. As so, we abolish democracy and denounce anyone who continues to uphold it. For all of those who wish to refuse our rule, you will be found and severely punished. Everyone must participate and so everyone must agree. This is the foundation of a perfect society."

"Lies," Alfred ground out. "All motherfucking lies…"

The anchor continued. "As you all know by now, the United States of America is no more. Most of you consider yourselves apart from the title of American, so we propose a change in name. We have decided that this new country of ours will be called Elysium, a celestial place for the fallen Greek heroes of old, and you, our loyal citizens, Elysians (1). And we shall not be considered separate within disjointed states. No, we will be one country, a whole. For were the states not a tool used by the former government to keep us apart and weak?"

"No," Alfred growled. Beside him, Wynston put a hand on his shoulder. "No, that's my fucking name. It can't be changed."

"But, sadly, our new country cannot be born if another still exists in its place. As so, we are asking everyone to look out for an Alfred F. Jones. He is the embodiment of the United States and all of its devastating lies. He has dark blond hair, wears glasses, stands at five feet, nine inches tall and is normally loud and stubborn. His picture will be posted around the country. There will be a gracious reward for anyone who brings him in—to the tune of five million dollars… well, that is, in the old monetary system. We shall be changing that soon, too.

"And for all of those who have suffered under this traitorous government and in this country as a whole, you will be pleased to know that if and when we have Mr. Jones, we will be sure to kill him slowly and painfully for all of the wrongs he caused you.

"As for other news—"

But they didn't get to hear about the other news, as at that moment, Alfred snatched the radio from off of the floor and hurled it against a wall. The force of his swing was so powerful it shattered into pieces upon impact. Arthur immediately shot to his feet.

"What the fucking hell if wrong with you, Alfred?!" he shouted. "That was our only link to what was going on in the world!"

But Alfred just looked somberly up at him. "What world, Artie? If there is one, I don't think we want to know it."

No one said a word after that, as they arranged their sleeping bags, too shocked about the news to talk to each other. Arthur was still fuming at Alfred, but he kept his silence, knowing that if he began an argument with the younger nation now, it would only end up wounding Alfred's pride more than it already had been.

Ivan and Ludwig fetched a mattress from an upstairs bedroom and laid it out on the floor. Yao and Alfred lifted Sadiq carefully from off of the couch and moved him onto the mattress, covering him with his sleeping bag. Matthew was then carried by Francis to the couch, his sleeping bag with him. As soon as Matthew was situated, his injured leg resting in a cramped position on a pillow between his knees, Francis kissed him on the brow and stroked his hair before laying out his own sleepingbag directly below the Canadian. Matthew's mind went back to Sadiq. Maybe if he hadn't tripped in the river, the Turk would still be awake. It was enough to keep him awake, staring at the ceiling for hours even after everyone else had fallen asleep. Then again, his knee partly helped with keeping him up.

Alfred was awake as well. Although he didn't like Wynston seeing him clamber into a sleeping bag with Ivan, he figured why not? It wasn't like it could get any worse for him. So he laid beside Ivan staring at his son, wondering how soon it would be until he was taken from him as well by this 'Fellowship of Man.' The thought roiled his stomach and brought tears to his eyes.

"You are tense," Ivan muttered after most everyone was asleep.

Alfred sighed. "I know,"

"You should not be."

Alfred was indignant. He turned over onto his side to glare at the Russian. "And why the fuck not?"

Ivan just smiled. "Because I am here." He kissed Alfred's forehead. "And I will not let anything happen to you."

Alfred blinked in surprise, feeling a faint fluttering in his stomach. Immediately, the words came to his mouth, the ones he'd been brooding over for nigh on a week and a half. "I know why you said I needed you."

Ivan ran his fingers down Alfred's bare shoulder. "You have finally come to an answer, then?"

"I need you because…" Alfred felt weird saying this, but all of his respect as a nation was gone in his opinion. Screw pride. It had all been stripped away from him. There was nothing for him to lose. He took a deep breath and said, "I need you because you know me at my worst and you know me at my best. You're my enemy, so you know everything about me."

"But Arthur knows everything about you also." Ivan said. "He raised you."

"Yes, but," Alfred licked his lips. His mouth was dry. "All that fighting we did made me realize… we have a lot in common. Our goals are the same. And something that Artie doesn't have is dedication to truly knowing someone and understanding them. With him, it takes time and effort… as can be explained with his rivalry with Francis and my revolution. But you," Alfred was shaky, and he knew Ivan could feel it, but he had never told Ivan this, had never told anyone this. "You were dedicated. You refused to be ignorant about the other side. You were determined to find out everything about me. I was just infiltrating your life because I wanted the information to win the war, but you… you did it partly because it interested you."

Ivan cocked his head. "And how did you come to that conclusion?"

Alfred swallowed. "I… uh… I knew my stuff was being taken and my letters intercepted. And the thing was, they had nothing to do with the war. They were private items and private letters… it pissed me off at the time, but I knew you must be doing it. Your government was concerned with my government at the time, not necessarily about me."

"Is true," Ivan reasoned with a smile. "You are getting warmer~"

Alfred blushed as he looked down. "Considering all of that, I-I guess I realized, but didn't really want to acknowledge that I… liked you. Sure, I was attracted sexually, but that was just from the war. But emotionally… I pushed those thoughts away. For a long time I hated them. I used to keep myself busy in order to keep it out of my mind, but now… there's nothing to keep those thoughts at bay."

"So, what is your answer, Alfred?" Ivan tipped up Alfred's chin so that they were looking at each other. "Do not be afraid. I will not judge."

Alfred hoped that the night hid his flushed face. Well, this was it. It wasn't like they had all the time in the world to coax the words out of each other, so he might as well say them. "I-I need you, Ivan, because I…" He took a deep breath and said, his voice but a whisper, "I love you,"

Ivan smiled warmly and said, "And I have loved you, Alfred, for longer than you know. I have been trying to make you realize that from the day I first met you."

Alfred felt like a wall of sorts had been broken down inside him, and with the shattering of it, came the rush of tears. "Well… you coulda been less of an asshole!" At last. was all he could think as Ivan embraced him.

At last.

And on the other side of the room, still awake on the couch, Matthew smiled.

It certainly took him long enough. Everyone knew it but him. What a hoser… And with a content mind, he shut his eyes, and sleep seized him like the sweet waves of a stormy sea.

Translations:

D'accord-Okay

References:

1-Elysium was a celestial place constructed from the legends of Ancient Greece where those related to the gods or heroes reside in the afterlife. It was overseen by Hades. (And, no, I was not aware that there was an upcoming movie of the same name... ironically).

A Word From the Writer: Aw, so cute~! Just a little (kinda) quote from Erich Fromm. You know, Immature love says: I love you because I need you. Mature love says: I need you because I love you. Our America is maturing (about damn time, too)! If you want more feels, listen to "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri while reading it. So what if it's from Twilight (it was the only good thing that came out of it). It makes me cry, don't judge me! :'(