Chapter 57

Around two weeks, or so Sasha thought; she wasn't completely sure about the passing of time, after Grior's visit, she was taken out of her cell for another interrogation, as usual. They had gotten a little rarer again, but not so rare yet that she would've wondered if they had decided to just let her rot in her cell. She walked through the now familiar hallways, up the familiar steep stairs, all the way to that one particular room she was usually interrogated in, this time followed by only one guard. She supposed that they were convinced by now that she wouldn't cause trouble, which of course was true.

When the door was opened for her, she walked in without being prompted, her cuffed hands behind her back as usual. Sitting at the cold, steel table she'd grown used to the sight of was captain Frank, alone this time, which was a bit unusual. More so when the guard didn't enter the room after her either and instead just closed the door. It was just the two of them, which was no unheard of, but unusual. She supposes this wouldn't take long this time, then.

"Do sit down, Ms. Blouse" he tells her, and she does as she is told. The chair is already pulled out for her, which is common since her hands are usually tied when she comes here, so it's easy to do so. Once in her place, Sasha briefly glances at her reflection from the huge mirror behind the captain's back, noting that the bruise she'd gotten when Grior slammed her forehead against the bars was gone now. It was nice to know, she had no mirror in her cell, but once again it made her wonder what was the point of having such a huge mirror in the interrogation room. She'd asked about it once near the beginning, but the only answer she'd gotten was the question of if they didn't have ones in theirs. Truthfully, Sasha had answered that they didn't, at least as far as she knew. Maybe it didn't have a purpose; maybe the room had been used for something else entirely first, and the mirror had been just left behind, no one bothering to move it. Or maybe it was just stored there, waiting to be needed somewhere. It's not like it was in the way where it was.

"I'm busy today, so I'll cut out the pleasantries and make this short, or so I'd assume, as I think you have nothing new to tell us?" captain Frank asks, but Sasha can tell it's just a formality. He's not actually expecting her to tell him anything new. She sighs.

"No sir, I have told you all there is to tell" Sasha keeps her stand. By now, they'd done this so many times that she doesn't feel even the least bit of nervous about the possibility of him catching on to the lie. The captain eyes her, but she's not alarmed. He did that every time.

The man leans back in his chair, casting a glance behind him. He did that often while in this room, and Sasha had yet to figure out just what he was looking for from the mirror. She was starting to think that it had nothing to do with her and he was just checking for bald spots or something, though maybe that wasn't so likely since he was wearing one of those helmets that were part of Marley's military uniform. Or maybe he was checking that his bald spot wasn't showing from under it? His blond, slightly greying hair looked pretty strong from what Sasha could tell, but she supposed one could never know.

"Unfortunate, but I'm not going to pretend that I expected to hear otherwise" Frank admits with a sigh "Here's the situation: the higher ups are starting to consider this a waste of time and, to be honest, I've been considering this to be so for weeks now, too, so I'm not even offended. I am still convinced you're hiding something. Whatever it is, I don't know, but I admit your ability to stand behind your decision is impressive. So impressive that I feel like torturing the information out of you, as has been suggested, would be as much of a waste of time as this has been. In the light of that, we've decided to admit that this is your win. Whatever you're hiding from us, we're not getting it."

To Sasha, that was good news, but she knew not to celebrate; he was definitely not done. Since they had given up, it was now a question of what to do with her. And she knew that whatever decision they'd come to, she had no way to change or escape it. That thought, as familiar as it was by now, still made her mouth dry. She clenched her fists, focusing her anxiety in to her hands so that it wouldn't show on her face. She was sure it wasn't a complete success; she was pressing her lips together too hard, but she couldn't help it. At least the captain didn't comment on it.

"Of course, after such a decision came another one: what do we do with you now?" he pauses after the question, and Sasha knows it's an intimidation tactic. A working one, and that annoys her, but she will do her all to not let him know either of these facts. "Of course, execution is always an option, and it was suggested, but it would be a waste; it's possible that you could still be of use in a prisoner exchange or some other form of a deal at a later date."

That was one of the possibilities Sasha had considered, and she relaxes a little. If she was going to be kept around in case she'd be needed in the future, then all she had to do was wait. All she could do was wait, but something would come up eventually. As long as she didn't cause any trouble that would lead to someone killing her in a fit of rage, she'd get home when the time came. She could wait; she just needed to be patient.

"I see that's a relief for you to hear" the captain says, face unreadable to Sasha. She would've preferred if he didn't see it, she really needed to work on her poker face, but she didn't bother denying it "Is it really a relief, though? It could take years for such an occasion to occur, and even if it does, there is no guarantee things will go smoothly for you. There is also the chance that you won't make it until then. Not that we plan to rely on violence, but being stuck in a cell all day, you might get sick. The medical care of the prisoners isn't the best around. If it takes years, you might even get a sickness of the mind, go crazy with nothing to do and no one to talk to. And of course, it is possible that such a chance will never come; for all either of us know, you might live long and grow old in one of our cells, waiting for the chance that will never come, eventually dying of old age after years of isolation from everything and everyone you once knew."

Sasha hadn't thought so far, and she knew her widened eyes and paling face, she could feel it, would give that away. She wished she could say something, anything to deny the fear that those words had sparked to life again, but she couldn't get a word out.

"But it doesn't have to be that way. We both know you're hiding something, and while the others are skeptic about it, I personally think that whatever it is, it isn't nearly as bad it could be. You just don't come off as the type, not to mention your superiors would've tried harder to get you back or silence you if you were part of some larger conspiracy. Truth won't get you out of here, no matter what it is, not at this point, but if you talk now, we can still arrange you a more comfortable wait for when you are of use again."

Sasha frowns, trying to keep her mind together despite the fear. Was this whole talk just another interrogating tactic? Or was the captain telling the truth about them giving up, and was trying this out one final time just in case it would work? …It didn't matter, she realized, for her answer was the same either way.

"I am not hiding anything, I have nothing to tell" she says, surprised by how steady and firm her own voice sounded. Judging from the look on his face, it surprised the captain too, for he certainly wasn't surprised by her words.

"I see. That's unfortunate" he says after a while before standing up from his chair "Someone will be here to escort you back to your cell in a minute."

He left after that, and Sasha got the feeling she wouldn't see him in quite a while.

XXXXX

He was out. Finally, Nikolo thought as he walked in from the front door of his childhood home. He was still not sure where to go from here, what to do, but he'd figure things out, one step at a time. First step would be to make sure he'd be allowed in that huge gathering of business men from Marley and over the world that his family was hosting. Shouldn't be too hard, especially if he agreed to stay with a family member the whole time. He'd convince his parents, well, his father, really, tonight. He needed to show the doctor and whoever was watching him that he was obeying. For now.

"You okay, Nicky?" Ulrich asks. He's the one who came to pick Nikolo up from the hospital, together with their mother. The former soldier just shrugs "I guess, I'm just… thinking of the future? Don't really know what to do from now on."

"You don't need to know anything yet; just focus on recovery. You'll find out what you want to do, eventually" his mother says with a smile.

"And if you don't, you can always be a freeloader at my place, as long as you're not too annoying" Ulrich says, getting a disapproving look from their mother. Nikolo rolls his eyes.

"" Your place" is our childhood home, oh mighty first son of the family who has always lived under dad's rule" he points out, making Ulrich narrow his eyes. Nikolo knows that look.

"Now now, boys- "their mother starts, but doesn't get a chance to finish as her eldest son lunges at the younger one. Nikolo saw that one coming and dodges. He's a soldier, well, former one, but the point stands; he could actually fight his brother, take him down like a professional, but their mother of all people is watching and he really doesn't want to deal with her in case he overdoes it, so he runs down the hall instead, deciding to save his brother's humiliation for later.

"Get back here Nicky!" his brother calls out and gives chase. Both of them barely look where they're going; they did this so many times as children, when neither their parents nor grandparents were home of course, that they had the best routes memorized, and while the furniture and the décor had changed over the years, the house hadn't. The layout was the way it had always been, at least as far as Nikolo remembered, and he hoped it'd continue to be so for years to come so that his siblings' children could one day do the same, assuming that Bianka's boys didn't do so already.

Eventually, the two end up in the garden and, with no witnesses and enough space to move around, Nikolo decides that it's a good time to teach his brother a little lesson. Besides, he needed exercise after all the time he spent laying around; since he got locked up, the closest thing he had to some practice was the ass kicking he got from Grior when he tried to run. He stops, waiting for his brother to catch up, which doesn't take long.

"Alright, let's get this over with" he says, getting in to a fighting stance "Come at me."

"Seriously? I might be in good shape, but you're a trained soldier, I mean, former soldier, but you still have military training. I'm not sure if this is exactly fair" he says. He had stopped about five meters away from Nikolo when he'd taken a fighting stance. Eyebrow raised, the younger man says: "I just got out of hospital, first time in a long time. I'm terribly out of shape; I need the exercise, and because of that you do have chance. Or are you too scared to face a barely out of hospital former soldier, one that you picked a fight with first, in a fair fight?"

That did the trick. Ulrich lunged at him without answering, and again, Nikolo dodged. To his annoyance, his brother had always had more physical strength, even when he was at top shape as a soldier, but thanks to his training and experience, Nikolo was faster and more agile, not to mention he knew more proper fighting techniques. Thanks to that, he got several more hits in than Ulrich did, but due to the difference in strength, and the fact that one of them was a bit out of shape, they did seem to have less effect than Ulrich's punches. Before long though, Nikolo got his brother to a proper position where he managed to kick the man's feet out from under him and pin him to the ground once he fell.

"I win" Nikolo says, and Ulrich tries to struggle out of his grip after the announcement, but gives up soon enough "Fine, you did. Mind getting off?"

Nikolo does and helps his brother up. He starts stretching, but keeps his eyes on Ulrich in case he tries something again. It certainly wouldn't be the first time. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to have such plans now, as he follows Nikolo's example. It makes the younger man wonder if his brother is simply going easy on him for now, or if he had matured a little.

Honestly, it was probably the former.

After he was done with his stretches, Nikolo decided to go check out the greenhouse since he was already out here. It turned out to be in a good condition; it clearly hadn't been just talking when his father had said they'd take care of the place for him for as long as was needed.

"The best part of your return is that we won't be forced to come to this place again" Ulrich complains as he follows Nikolo inside "I hate this place."

Nikolo ignores his complaints, examining the plants for a while before deciding that nothing needed his immediate attention. He'd come back soon and probably make taking care of the place a routine, he hadn't really had one before ending up at the hospital due to having so varying workdays, but that could wait a bit, at least for today, probably tomorrow. He had been told to take it easy, not that he really needed it but it would please his mother, so he supposes he'd do something else. He was a little hungry, so perhaps that something else could be lunch? …Their cook was probably already at it, and he didn't want to disrespect the man by making his own instead, so maybe he'd just focus on planning the dinner? Yeah, that sounded like a plan. He'd have to check what ingredients they had, and convince the cook to let him take charge, and-

"Are you still with me, Nicky?" Ulrich asks as he shakes Nikolo lightly with a hand on his shoulder, concern clear in his blue eyes "Do you need to sit down or something?"

"No, I'm fine" he assures. Noticing the look his brother gives him, he adds: "Seriously, I am. Just spaced out a little making plans… you know, having no job and all, I could actually set a strict daily routine for taking care of this place instead of coming here when I have the time. And maybe I could pester the cook to let me take charge of the preparations of at least one meal of the day for now, too."

Ulrich eyes him for a moment before apparently deciding that he believes him as he removes his hand and shrugs.

"As long as I don't need to come here anymore, do whatever you want. And I can help you with the later, the pestering part I mean, not the cooking part. I'm good at that, as you know."

"Can't deny that, but is it really something to brag about?"

"Everyone's got whatever strong point they do; gotta be proud of whatever it is!" Ulrich says with a humorous grin, making Nikolo chuckle, but then he sees his brother's face grow serious. Looks like it was time for some kind of talk "Hey, Nicky- "

"There you boys are!" Ulrich is cut off by their mother as she enters the greenhouse "I was wondering where you two run off to- Ulrich, what happened to your clothes? Why are they dirty?"

Nikolo knows he's in trouble before even looking at his brother to note that his clothes were, indeed, dirty. Must've come from when he tripped him and pinned him down. Unless Ulrich wanted to protect his pride, which probably wouldn't happen since the only witness was their mother, he was definitely going to rat him out, and then she would start wondering if Nikolo still had anger control issues, the kind that landed him in the hospital in the first place and, if he was really unlucky, she might even contact the hospital. Shit.

"Chill mom, I just tripped and had a bad landing" Ulrich answers, surprising Nikolo, who raises an eyebrow in question. Ulrich just mirrors his gesture with an annoying smile on his face "Anyway, Nicky said that he wants to make the dinner tonight, so you should help him convince the cook to let him do as pleases. And of course, tell the cook to make something too in case Nicky messes up. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go get changed before my wife sees me."

"Didn't you say you could help me convince the cook?" Nikolo calls after him when Ulrich's already halfway out the door.

"I did, but he's more likely to listen to our mother. Don't give us all a food poisoning!"

And he's gone. Nikolo would be glad for the peace and quiet if it wasn't for the fact that their mother was still with him. And with her around, he didn't get any peace and quiet these days, at least unless he asked for it because he "needed rest." But now was not a good time to use such an excuse.

"Cooking? Are you sure? Shouldn't you rest, especially after the stunt you two just pulled?" his mother asks, her tone going from pure concern to slightly stern as she speaks, and Nikolo feels like he's five again and scraped his knee while chasing after his brother.

"Yes, I'm sure; resting is all I've been doing for… for a long time. I need to do something, and cooking is safe and light enough." Nikolo tells. If his mother insists, he will add that he could just go out for a good run instead; that'll change her mind. Luckily, he doesn't have to use such a manipulative trick as his mother sighs and agrees to talk to the cook with him.

XXXXX

Sasha stares at the ceiling. If someone were to ask her why, she'd just answer that the ceiling just happened to be there, and there was nothing else to do, other than think of her situation. And she'd rather not; she'd rather just wait, blankly, for Jean and Hanji to get results. While she waited, she'd do some basic exercise that she could in this small place, but other than that, it was just her and the ceiling. Dull, grey ceiling. At least it wasn't moldy or anything.

As much as she gets called stupid, or an airhead, she can't keep up not thinking for all that long, especially not when she actually tries, and her thoughts return to her conversation with Captain Frank.

Could he be bluffing? Maybe he was trying to scare her and get something out of her in a hurry because they were in a situation where they'd have to take her back soon, for Jean and Hanji had… done something. She had no idea what that kind of something could be, but it was a nice thought. One that she shouldn't dwell too much on, she knew. If she did, she'd just set herself up for disappointment.

Things could be a lot worse, she reminded herself once again, having no idea how many times she'd done it since she arrived in Marley, no, since she got on that ship, by now. She was alive, she was getting not so tasty but definitely eatable food and no one was beating her up or anything. So, things weren't bad. She'd survive, even if it took years for the chance to go home to come.

Still, she really wished it wouldn't.

XXXXX

Together Nikolo and his mom had convinced the cook to let Nikolo take charge for the evening, not that the man had needed much convincing; the former soldier had helped him out before too, and he knew he'd get off easier with an extra pair of hands, even if said extra pair was going to be in charge. The dinner went well, he hadn't messed up the recipe despite having had to look at it more times he would've liked; he had gotten rusty, and Ulrich had limited his jokes to only asking once about how likely it'd be that they'd all get food poisoning.

Nikolo hadn't even had to bring up the gathering himself, for his father beat him to it. Judging from the surprise on his face though, he had not expected Nikolo to take part in that part of the conversation, nor had he expected his son to ask if he could join them. But the blond was sure that he was even more surprised by his father's answer, which was a direct permission to come along, than his father had been by his question. He'd thought his family would need some convincing, which would've been the case if he'd asked his mother first; he can tell that much from the hesitating look she gave him, but since her husband had made a decision, she wouldn't protest. His father did set a condition that he should stay with a member of the family, preferably either his parents or his older brother, much to Ulrich's displeasure, at all times. Nikolo had expected as much, and readily agreed.

All in all, the day had gone well, perhaps too well; it was unusual for things to go so smoothly for Nikolo, and he was dreading the moment things would go wrong again. It felt like it was only a matter of time, but for now, he tried to distract himself by going through a cookbook while lying on his bed. The dinner taught him he had some re-memorizing to do. It was a little weird, considering that he hadn't felt nearly this out of touch when he got out of isolation in Paradis as he did now. Was it because back then he'd been a fulltime chef before his imprisonment instead of just cooking every now and then? Or was it because he'd been planning new recipes in his head back then so that he could surprise Sasha when he got out?

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't planned anything new in a long while even before getting hospitalized. He'd have to change that; the longer it took for him and Sasha to reunite, the less of an excuse he'd have for not having anything new to prepare for her.

Tossing the book aside, Nikolo moves to his desk for pen and paper, starting to list the dishes he already had prepared for Sasha during the years. After he'd have that done, he could look it over and start thinking of something that would hopefully be different than any of them. This could take a while, but then again, what else did he have these days if not time-

There's a knock on the door. Guess his list would have to wait.

"Come in"

Ulrich comes in, and his serious face tells Nikolo that his good luck for the day must have ended right about now. The fact that his brother makes sure to firmly close the door only confirms this theory, so he turns his chair to face the door and waits for the man to say something. For a while, it's a staring contest, one that Nikolo would've definitely lost when they were younger, but now, he has years of far more unnerving experiences under his belt. He can wait.

"How much do you remember of what you said and did when you were drugged right up to the next Sunday?" Ulrich breaks the silence, and Nikolo blinks before the words sink in.

"You knew?"

"Not at first, so hold your tongue. One time, when you were really out of it, you managed to stutter something along the lines of "don't trust the doctor." I didn't think much of it at the time, but it kept bothering me, so I did some subtle digging." Ulrich says, walking over to Nikolo's bed and sitting down on it. Nikolo shifts in his chair to face him "Turns out you weren't that particular hospitals, nor Dr. Becker's, first Eldian Sympathizer patient. Far from it, in fact. It itself is not that weird; it makes sense to send you all to the doctor who gets good results. What doesn't add up is how all of the sympathizers let out have turned in to people who frantically oppose the rights of Eldians. All of them. So, I see two options: either the doctor has somehow traumatized you all very badly and somehow managed to put the blame on Eldians, or the likelier theory: he's blackmailing you lot with something, most likely your freedom. So, which is it?"

It was time for another staring contest as Nikolo tried to decide what to tell. He had steeled himself after Ulrich's first question, so he'd like to think that his face wasn't betraying anything, but he couldn't be sure. Not that that was the important part here; right now, he had to decide if he could trust his brother or not... but with how much he'd found out, did he have a choice? If he refused to say anything, would his brother take this up to their father? Or would he continue his digging and potentially get caught? That Nikolo knew he couldn't afford.

"The later, at least for me and yes, he's blackmailing me with my freedom." Nikolo decides to admit.

"Okay" Ulrich sighs and takes a deep breath "Okay. That sucks, but at least you got out. I take it he wants you to do the same the others are doing?"

"Not quite. I spent nine years on Paradis, so he wants me to focus on ruining the reputation of the islanders. It's my job to make sure that people, or to be more specific, those that could potentially do business with the island, keep fearing and hating it and its occupants. As a former war prisoner and as a son from well known, well doing business man, I'm the perfect fit for the job."

"That makes sense. Is this why you want to come to the gathering?" Nikolo nods "Right. People might end up thinking you're a bit on the obsessive side, and it might make our family look bad, but I suppose we have no option but to let that happen. If we forbid you from coming, that doctor will probably get you in trouble, or the whole family if we're unlucky, so that's out of the question. But the years you spent on that island aren't exactly a secret, whispers have gone around even though our family's been dodging the questions about it, so most weird behavior you might have will be pinned on that. In fact, we might even get some sympathy points, so the damage won't be that bad. We can make things work, so you just focus on keeping that damn doctor happy, and I'll deal with the fall out with the rest of the family. We'll keep you out of that hospital!"

To say that Nikolo was surprised would be an understatement. While it had been Ulrich's own theory, Nikolo hadn't expected him to actually believe everything he confirmed to be true.

"Just one question, Nicky: you are going to do what Dr. Becker wants you to, right?"

He was, for now, either until he got a plan or he was told to do something he absolutely couldn't go through with. But telling that to Ulrich wasn't a good idea.

"I will. With gritted teeth, and keeping my eyes open for loopholes in his orders, but still."

Ulrich looks at him, and Nikolo stares back. When his older brother frowns and opens his mouth, Nikolo expects the man to tell him to forget the loopholes, but instead he says: "You're lying."

"What?"

"C'mon, I know you better than that. What you say is probably a part of the truth, maybe you'll start with that, but I can see you have no intention to do as told in the long run. Besides, the fact that you need to be blackmailed to do this tells me that you aren't over your Eldian sympathizing tendencies that landed you in the hospital in the first place. So, you must be planning something to get the doctor out of your hair."

Nikolo crosses his arms and gives his brother a look that he hopes comes across as unimpressed.

"Really? You think that because I don't want to go around throwing dirt on Eldians, I'm a sympathizer? You don't exactly do it, either; does that make you one?"

"Don't turn this on me; I don't have the history that you do!" Ulrich snaps, standing up "Just throw all the dirt you can on those island devils and keep yourself out of trouble, okay!?"

He should say yes, Nikolo knows that. Ulrich might not completely believe it, but it would definitely bring less trouble than just sitting here quietly, looking up at his brother, which is what he's doing.

"Nicky, say that you'll do it"

"…For now, I will" it's a bad thing to say, but Nikolo doesn't take it back nor regret it, not even when Ulrich sighs and sits back down, covering his face with his hands.

"Just… give me a heads up before you defy their orders, okay? I'll cover for you and protect you the best I can."

Nikolo agrees, and hopes he can keep that promise. And that admitting this all to Ulrich won't come back to bite him.

A.N: I don't know if I've said this before, but back when I was first planning this out, Ulrich was meant to be a horrible older brother… and yet, somehow, I made him the opposite of that. But I kinda like how he's turned out. How about you guys; love him? Hate him? Don't care and want more content about the canon characters?