Matthew snapped awake to what sounded like someone trying to break down his door. Having forced himself to become a morning person years earlier when his children could still be considered kids, he jumped (more like tumbled, but who cared about technicalities) out of bed and stumbled downstairs. He rubbed one eye and opened the front door, scowling when the visitor was revealed. "What do you want, Lovino?"

The italian was breathing heavily and had a crazed look in his eyes. He didn't even pause to comment on Matthew using his first name for once. "Where does your second player live?"

"What?"

"Where does your-"

"I heard you the first time," Matthew growled, his grip on the door handle tightening. "I just don't understand why you want to know."

"Just tell me where he lives!" Lovino snapped, his normal aggression rearing up again. "This is important!"

"Even if I wanted to tell you, I couldn't!" Matthew snapped back, his eyes narrowing. "He moves around every few years, so any address I'd give wouldn't be valid anymore."

Lovino's eyes went wide and he began sputtering as if his brain had chosen that moment to malfunction. Matthew simply sighed and waited, wondering how much longer this would take. If he was lucky, it would only be a few minutes and he'd be able to go back to sleep. That was, until Abelia piped up from behind her father, where she'd previously gone unnoticed, "Dad, I told you, I know where he lives."

Lovino sent his daughter a look that said You're not bringing this up again. "I already told you, I'm not letting you anywhere near him."

"But dad-"

"No!"

"Dad! If you want to help mom, you have to let me-"

"That's our last resort."

Matthew felt an icy fist close around his heart. Even after all these years of trying to pretend he didn't care, he could feel panic rising. "What exactly happened?" It took a lot of energy just to make those three words sound at least halfway calm.

Lovino sighed, turning back to the canadian. "The ragazza, she-" He paused and took a deep breath. "She and Severus were on a walk and your stupid counterpart showed up." Matthew decided to ignore the accusatory look Lovino was shooting him. How was this his fault? The italian continued, "He threatened the kids and she-"

"Went with him." Matthew finished. He knew his ex well enough to know that if James had threatened the kids, she hadn't put up a fight. "Of course she did."

"Honestly, do you have any idea what time- Lovino!" Said italian looked past Matthew and waved at Brittany, who was rubbing the corner of her eye. She'd seemed happy enough to see him, but as he continued to watch her, her expression turned to one of confusion. "What are you doing here? Matthew, why are you just standing there?"

Both nations blinked and then Matthew stepped aside, letting Lovino and his children inside. Damn it, I just managed to get rid of him. They all shuffled awkwardly into the living room, Matthew silently gesturing for the italians to sit down. He noticed after a minute that Severus was staring at the floor. The boy had always been quiet, more like his mother than his father, but this was different. He almost seemed... guilty?

Brittany tuned out the conversation as Matthew and Lovino awkwardly tried to figure out what to do. Her focus was on Severus. She frowned, knowing he was thinking that this was his fault and that he was going to beat himself up for ages. She'd seen Maddy do it enough when they were in school and unfortunately, her eldest son had picked up quite a few of her habits. The brunette stood and went over to the boy, who was too lost in his own thoughts to notice her at first. She gently touched his shoulder and he jumped, finally realizing she was there. He looked down at his lap and picked at his cuticles. Another of his mother's habits. "Can I talk to you?" He nodded, still refusing to look at her. She frowned, grabbed his arm and led him out of the room, deciding that it would be better if they were away from prying eyes. Once they were safely hidden in the kitchen, she released her hold on his arm. "This isn't your fault."

He grit his teeth and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Yes, it is. I should've forced her to stay or fought the bastard. I shouldn't have let her go. If I wasn't such a damn coward, I could've…" He trailed off, tears welling up in his eyes.

Brittany watched him as the tears began to fall and after a minute of awkwardly trying to figure out what to do, she hugged him. He stiffened and then gingerly hugged her back. She released him and stepped back, looking him over again. He was taller than her, damn it. It was only by an inch or two, but it still bothered her. "You couldn't have done anything." He sent her a questioning yet angry look and she continued, "Your mother is extremely stubborn and protective of the people she cares about. Always has been. If James," She was still getting used to calling him that instead of 'michael.' "Threatened you, she went quietly."

"That's just it," Severus said miserably. "She didn't put up a fight. She made me go inside and told me to take care of everyone."

"That doesn't make it your fault."

"I should have done something!"

Brittany shook her head. "If you had tried to fight James, he would have hurt you, maybe even killed you. Would you want to put your mom through that?"

The boy sighed, knowing any arguments he might have had had just been made invalid. "No. I- I just don't want to lose her. And I feel like I didn't do enough to keep her safe."

Brittany felt herself smiling sadly. "She's your mother. Keeping you safe is her number one priority. You don't have to worry about that sort of thing with her." She shook her head slightly, realizing how like his mother Severus was. "You know, when you're not stressed and upset, you're actually really sweet."

He wasn't quite sure how to take that. He was pretty sure it was a compliment, but it had come out weirdly. "Mom used to joke that she and dad couldn't figure out how I turned out so quiet and kind when they were my parents."

Brittany shook her head again, this time out of amusement.

Lovino felt like tearing his hair out.

Matthew was absolutely no help whatsoever. The canadian kept saying that he wanted to do something, but he wasn't offering up any brilliant ideas or dispensing any helpful information. He thought that letting the girls show them how to get to James' house was a good idea, or as he put it "the only option we have." And while Lovino could see the logic behind that argument, there was no way he was letting his daughter anywhere near that psychopath again. What if something went wrong and she got hurt? He couldn't lose her again.

Having kids is a lot harder than I thought it would be. That stupid tomato bastard was right.

"Dad."

He jumped, then turned to his daughter wearily. "I already told you-"

"No, dad, I have a better idea." Bell interrupted her father, playing with her hair. "Matthew has a map. I can just show you how to get to James' house and you can go get mom yourself." She hesitated and looked at her feet before mumbling, "I promise I won't try to sneak into the car and come along."

Lovino sighed. "Alright. Bring me this map."

She led him back to the coffee table, a map laid out on top of it. Matthew looked like he was trying hard not to say something insulting. "I don't think this is a good plan."

"It's the only one we've got." Lovino snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Unless you've come up with a better one since we've walked in here."

Matthew looked away, knowing he'd lost the argument. "Not really. I just don't think this is a good idea. You don't have a plan for when you get there or for getting back. What if someone gets hurt?"

"Aw, are you worried about me, Williams?" Lovino asked sarcastically, fully aware that he wasn't the one Matthew was worried about. Not that the canadian would admit to being worried about Maddy either.

"You wish," Matthew replied shortly, turning his attention back to the map. "Are we both-"

"In your dreams." Lovino hissed, knowing what the blond was about to ask. "She's not going to want to see you."

Matthew grit his teeth, trying to remain civil and calm. "You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. She isn't going to want to see you because when she needed you the most, you kicked her to the curb and acted like she was the devil."

Brittany had made her way back into the living room, followed by Severus. They stopped when they realized the other two adults were arguing. Matthew took a deep breath, desperately holding onto the little bit of calm left in him. "Don't act like you know what actually happened, Vargas. You weren't there."

"You broke her heart!" Lovino exploded.

"You think I don't know that?" Matthew yelled right back, standing up. Had Lovino always been so much shorter than him? "I know what I did! I'm not stupid!"

"Distrusting and then breaking the heart of someone who loved you more than anything else suggests otherwise!" The italian fumed. "You-"

"Would you two stop arguing like children!?" Brittany yelled, glaring at both of them. Neither was sure when she'd returned or why she'd disappeared in the first place, but both knew not to mess with her when she snapped like this. "Blaming each other isn't going to help anyone!" She shook her head, eyeing them both angrily. "I'm disappointed with you both. I expected more from you, Matthew."

Both men looked thoroughly daunted and peered at her, hesitant to say anything in response. After a few minutes, they went back to planning out their rescue mission, occasionally shooting each other dirty looks, careful to not let Brittany see.

Maddy sighed, struggling once again. Just like her previous attempts, squirming accomplished nothing. Where was she? She vaguely remembered being dragged into the basement and left alone long enough for whatever drug had been in the air to take effect. The next time she woke up, she found herself in complete blackness. Not knowing for certain if she'd actually woken up, she'd hesitantly tried to touch her eyelid. Unfortunately, she had actually opened her eyes, despite the dark and had ended up poking herself in the eye. She knew she was in some sort of buoyant liquid that supported her no matter how much she kicked and struggled. She could breathe so she knew if she died it wasn't going to be from lack of oxygen. She wasn't hungry or thirsty, so she wouldn't be able to use that as an excuse to get out. Nothing hurt, nothing felt good. She didn't feel anything period. Was she in some sort of isolation tank? That seemed like the only explanation.

But that just confused her more. Why would James put her in an isolation tank? What was he planning?

She'd found that she often had trouble figuring out what he was thinking and that bothered her more than anything. Even the fact that -just like Matthew- he was so much taller than her didn't affect her anymore. No, what irked her the most about him was that she couldn't read him.

The lid of the tank being ripped off cut her thoughts short and retina-searing light poured in. After being in pitch darkness with no sense of anything, the light burned. She felt hands grab her and haul her out of the tank, just adding to the intense pain. Small whimpers passed through her lips and she curled into a ball, trying to block out as much of the light as possible. Somehow she was laying on the floor, but she didn't remember being put there or laying down herself. After a few minutes of heavy silence, she cracked one eye open. The light was too bright, but it no longer seemed to be burning her eyes out. A blurred image of James swam in her messy vision and suddenly, she wanted to be back in the tank, back in the darkness and silence and nothing.

"How are you feeling?" He asked simply.

She laughed, but it sounded like a cat choking. "Peachy." She rasped sarcastically, her voice coming out hoarse and rough like it was made of nails. "Never better."

He rolled his eyes at her, knowing he wasn't going to get an honest answer. Sarcasm might as well have been her first language instead of english. He watched as she struggled to sit up, but eventually accomplished the task. She glared up at him. "If you're going to kill me, why go through all this trouble?"

That got him. He chuckled and shook his head. "I don't want to kill you." At her confused expression, he crouched down and got close enough that their noses were almost touching. He made sure they were holding eye contact before he continued. "I want to break you."

pinkittwice54: 1) No one ever "likes" the ending. 2) While I would love to have that happen, I don't think it will with the way the story is going.