"Matthew." He whispered, running up to his brother. Feliciano jumped up but Alfred grabbed his arm.
"Wait, you've got to help my brother."
Feliciano glanced back at Kiku, worry in his eyes. When he turned to Arthur and Ivan and saw that they were going to Kiku's side, he nodded. Tense and nervous, Alfred watched Feliciano place his hand on his brother's forehead and close his eyes. Immediately, a soft blue glow emitted from under his hand and Alfred watched in mute fascination. Feliciano turned to him and said quietly,
"You should go see Kiku."
Normally nothing could have made Alfred leave his brother. Now that he was with Feliciano though, Alfred knew he was safe. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. With the funny and talkative stranger, Matthew would be okay. Standing up, he approached the smoking man. Kiku. Arthur was frantically talking, waving his hands through the air and almost smacked Alfred when he approached them.
"But our barriers—"
"They got passed them." Kiku replied, his voice quiet and hoarse. "I do not know how, but they did."
"Can't we hold them off? They've tried this before."
"We're fighting as hard as we can but it will not last long."
Alfred felt his stomach knot up. Something was seriously wrong. Ivan stood quietly to the side, looking deep in thought. Alfred wanted to interject but Ivan spoke up, interrupting Arthur.
"We should be leaving then. Soon."
He glanced at Matthew and Arthur sighed.
"Well we can't just walk on into headquarters. Especially with two inexperienced fighters."
"Where else can we go?" Kiku asked.
"They haven't infiltrated the bunker, have they?"
Kiku cast his eyes down. Alfred felt a pang of sadness for him. He looked tired and sad, even disappointed. In whom though, Alfred didn't know.
"We need to make a decision quickly." Ivan said.
"Oh yes, and I'm sure you've got a bright idea." Arthur snapped.
"We could go to Gilbert."
Whatever Arthur was about to say died on his lips as he considered what Ivan said. His scowl deepened as Kiku nodded, coughing.
"Unfortunately, Ivan is right. Gilbert and his housemates will grant us refuge."
Alfred wondered briefly what Gilbert was like. His thoughts floated through his mind. Nothing was concrete and every idea was fleeting. As his thoughts wandered back to his brother, Alfred glanced back at Matthew's still form. His chest moved sluggishly, like there was still a crushing weight on it. He hated seeing his brother so lifeless.
"Will Gilbert help us fix Mattie?" Alfred asked.
"I doubt it but Feliciano is doing just fine alone." Arthur replied.
At the mention of his name, the healer looked up with a cheerful smile.
"I'm almost finished." He exclaimed. "Just one more..."
He trailed off as he pressed his hands to Matthew's chest. The gentle blue hue returned, cloaking Matthew's entire body in a soft, hazy blanket. Feliciano closed his eyes and looked like he was concentrating deeply. Then he pulled his hands off and the light faded away. Opening his eyes, he leaned over Matthew and whispered gently,
"Hello?"
Alfred could feel happiness filling him up as Matthew began to stir. Arthur and Ivan had started talking again but he ignored them. Dashing forward, he knelt down beside his brother just as his eyes fluttered open. His eyes hazy and clouded with confusion.
"Al-Alfred?" He mumbled.
A blinding smile spread across Alfred's face. He took his brother's hand and squeezed it tight.
"I'm right here man."
Matthew blinked hard and his gaze wandered across the room.
"Did you blow up our room?"
Alfred laughed, relief flooding through him.
"No, it was a bunch of supervillains!"
He launched into an explanation, making sure to capture the intensity and kick ass battle. Feliciano interrupted a few times to correct him but Alfred went on. Long after he had run out of breath, when he was trying to explain their newly found powers, Matthew stopped him.
"I can turn invisible?" He asked, staring in disbelief at Feliciano. He nodded enthusiastically. Matthew turned back to Alfred.
"Hell yeah you can!" Alfred said. "It was so cool." And really scary, he didn't add.
"Arthur and Ivan say that it's probably your regular power." Feliciano said. "Isn't that neat! Mine is healing, like I did with you and Alfred. It sounds like Alfred's is super strength and Arthur can hurt people just by touching them and Ivan can freeze people- isn't that cool- and Kiku can teleport and Ludwig can-."
Before he could continue, Arthur called to them.
"We're leaving now, come on."
Feliciano jumped up and ran while Alfred helped Matthew up. He watched in awe as his brother stood up and started walking. Flashes of Matthews mangled body invaded his mind. He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. He wrapped Matthew tightly in a hug, squeezing him as softly as he dared to. He still wasn't used to the whole super strength thing. When he approached Feliciano and the others, Feliciano was talking to Kiku.
"Are you sure you're okay to teleport again?" He asked, concern shining in his eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"But you're hurt!" Feliciano insisted.
"I'm fine." Kiku repeated gruffly."
"Let me heal you before we go."
"No. We need to leave here now." Kiku grabbed Feliciano's hand. As he reached for Arthur's, Feliciano pulled away.
"I won't go if you don't let me help you."
Kiku's expression didn't change as he snatched Feliciano's hand again and held it tight. He took a small step back and away from Feliciano and the group. Alfred could tell that he didn't like being so close to everyone. Kiku pulled his arms into himself and shifted on his feet, glancing between Arthur, Feliciano and the floor. Feliciano yanked his arm but Kiku gripped it in an iron fist.
"Please don't be difficult." Kiku said.
"But you're hurt Kiku, I-"
"We can't afford to waste any more time. Our friends are loosing." His voice faltered.
There was a pause before Feliciano asked in a quivering voice,
"What about Ludwig?" When Kiku didn't say anything Feliciano persisted. "Is Ludwig okay?"
"Last time I saw him, he was fighting Berwald."
"With who?" He asked. When Kiku didn't answer, his face fell.
"No," Feliciano whispered. "No, he wouldn't do it alone. He knows better than that."
"I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen to me." Kiku said. His voice was much softer.
"But you- He should have known," Feliciano frantically tried to pull his hand away again.
"Feliciano please, don't." Ivan said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Kiku is right, we need to be going now."
Feliciano turned desperately to Arthur but he shook his hand and took Kiku's hand. Feliciano sighed, defeated, and let Kiku hold his hand. Alfred felt bad for the guy. He couldn't help but wonder who Ludwig was, but his thoughts were focused on the name Kiku had said. Berwald. They mentioned him, Mathias and the others. Whoever Ludwig was, Alfred hoped he was good. If Berwald was half as good as any of the three he'd met, he would be hard to beat.
He was torn from his fretful thoughts as Ivan reached over and offered Alfred his hand. Curious, he took it. Matthew took the other one and Kiku said,
"Hold on tight. Whatever you do, don't let go until I say so."
"Are you going to teleport us somewhere?" Alfred asked.
"Yes. We're going to our headquarters." Kiku replied grimly.
Alfred remembered what they had talked about earlier. The people who attacked him and Matthew were attacking their base. Suddenly, the prospect of teleportation wasn't so exciting. Arthur started to say something when a loud pop drowned him out and everything became a blur of colours. The noise rattled his eardrums and it took all his power not to let go of Matthew's hand. Alfred's entire body felt numb except for a pressure pushing down on his chest. All the air was sucked out of his lungs. Tears stung at his eyes. He tried to move but felt himself frozen. Then, just as quickly as it started, everything stopped.
Alfred blinked rapidly, trying to get the tears out of his eyes. Teleportation was not as fun as it looked in Harry Potter, he thought. The pungent smell of smoke filled him and he choked. He heard the crackle of flames and different voices screaming at each other. A loud crash shook the ground and he felt himself knocked to the ground. Scrapes stung his palms. He pushed himself up onto his knees. Just as his vision began to clear, a scream pierced the air. Alfred felt like he could hear the pain in the voice. Then his heart stopped.
It was Feliciano.