Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

CuBul: Hostage Dilemma

Dimitri sighed, and Carlos ruffled his hair.

"It'll be fine," the Cuban said. "We'll sort this out, no problem."

Dimitri's bank account had been frozen, and he had to go to the bank to figure out what the problem was. He had been active in the last three months, and he didn't pay more than he had available, but his account had been frozen. It had to be a mistake.

He hated going to the bank. It was always a long waiting game. Luckily, this bank had seats, and after getting a ticket with a number, he and Carlos sat down. He was just lucky that Carlos had decided to come with him today. He didn't know how bored he would have been without the Cuban.

Looking around at the other people waiting for their turn, Dimitri started to feel his annoyance grow. Carlos saw this, and quickly wrapped his arm around the Bulgarian.

"Don't worry about it," Carlos said. "So, what are we going to do after this? Get some ice cream?"

Dimitri smiled and nodded his head, knowing how much Carlos loved the sweet treat. He was facing the entrance, and saw something that immediately made him panic as his mind realised what he was seeing.

"Everyone down!"

Gunshots echoed, and the people let out startled screams. Dimitri curled up in a ball, and Carlos wrapped his larger body protectively around Dimitri.

"On the ground," one of the robbers said, gesturing with his gun to the people waiting on the chairs as two of his comrades made their way to the tellers and the others spread out. "Hands where I can see them."

Dimitri was panicking. He could feel Carlos gently lowering him to the floor, following after him. The people around them were also doing as they were told.

"You two," the robber said, gesturing to Carlos and Dimitri, "separate. I need to see both of you."

Carlos glared at the man before slowly pulling away from Dimitri, though he kept close enough to reassure the Bulgarian that his presence was still there.

They could do nothing but wait as the robbers were busy at the counters, and Dimitri kept his eyes trained to the one hovering around the hostages. The man kept roaming his eyes over the people, though they would occasionally linger on Dimitri. The Bulgarian shuddered, afraid of what it might mean.

One of the robbers cursed, and Dimitri soon figured out why: police sirens. The robber close to the hostages turned to his comrades at the tellers.

"How much longer?" he demanded.

"Hurry it up," one of them told the anxious woman behind the counter.

The robber near the hostages clicked his tongue, before he looked towards his other comrades. They seemed to be communicating something to each other, and a moment later, the man stalked over towards Dimitri. Dimitri shrank back, but the man grabbed his arm and hauled him up. Carlos let out an angry cry, before the robber positioned the barrel of the gun against Dimitri's jaw, pressing his back against the man's chest.

"Let's calm down, shall we?" the robber asked. "If you want your friend to remain unharmed, you'll stay right there."

Carlos gritted his teeth, before his eyes flitted to Dimitri. The Bulgarian was terrified, and he knew that the other could see it in his eyes. Dimitri was afraid of being in the stranger's arms, and he was afraid of having something that could kill him aimed at a tender spot.

The robber glanced over towards his comrades, seeing that they were finally finished. He started to drag Dimitri along, and he let out a distressed whine.

"Relax," the man said. "You're coming along as insurance. If you're good, we might let you go."

Dimitri's stomach dropped when he heard the word 'might'. He knew that his freedom was an uncertainty. He tried to glance back towards Carlos, but the robber firmly pressed the barrel against his jugular.

"Don't even think about it," the man growled. "Come on."

The others were waiting for the two of them, and Dimitri realised that this wasn't a spontaneous decision. They knew that they would take a hostage, and Dimitri realised that the reason why the robber had been eyeing all of them was because he was trying to decide who would be the best person to take. And Dimitri had been the unlucky winner.

He winced when they left the building, and he saw that the police were already gathered there, guns pointing at the robbers. Dimitri was dragged to the forefront, in full sight of the policemen.

"Don't move!" the one holding him shouted. "Or I'll blow his brains out!"

The gun had been adjusted to rest against his temple, and Dimitri closed his eyes, fear making him want to hide from the reality in front of him. He could feel himself being dragged, and soon he was pushed somewhere. He opened his eyes to see that it was the back of a van.

He was pushed to the floor of the van, next to the bags of money. The man that had taken him positioned the gun at the back of his head, and Dimitri held very still.

"Looks like he's cooperating nicely," one of the others sneered. "Too bad he's not a girl."

Dimitri shuddered, and his mind wandered to Carlos. What was he doing? Was he worried about him? Was he doing something stupid? The Bulgarian bit back a whimper when he felt the vehicle starting.

…

Carlos had wanted to go after Dimitri. The moment the other was pulled away, he wanted to grab him back. The moment all of this started, he was only worried about protecting Dimitri.

But then the gun came into play, and Carlos froze. He couldn't do anything that would end up placing Dimitri in any more danger, even though he wanted nothing more than to wrench Dimitri away from the aggressor and wrap him in his arms. Seeing the fear in Dimitri's eyes broke Carlos's heart.

And when Dimitri was dragged away, the other hostages had to stop Carlos from lunging after the guy. He might have cussed the guy out in Spanish, but he wasn't even sure now.

And as he finally got out of the bank, it was only to see a van drive away. There was no sign of Dimitri.

"Why the hell didn't you stop them?!" Carlos demanded, rounding on the nearest officer.

"Sir, you need to…" the officer said calmly.

"They took my boyfriend! Why didn't you stop them?!"

The officer hesitated, before turning back to the bank.

"Were you involved in the robbery just now?" the officer asked.

"I was one of the hostages," Carlos said. "And I… That bastard took him, and…"

The officer nodded, understanding dawning on him. He called someone over, and Carlos noted that it was a paramedic.

"Do you mind if he checks you out while I take a statement?" the officer asked.

"Why are you wasting time?" Carlos asked. "Dimitri…"

"We've already taken steps to stop them. For now, we need to help everyone here. Please, just trust us."

Carlos gritted his teeth. He hated to feel useless. And he hated the fact that Dimitri was in danger when he could do nothing.

…

"We lost the tail," the driver said.

Dimitri flinched when his kidnapper ruffled his hair.

"And you've been so good," the man said. "What do you think, boys? Should we let this guy go?"

Dimitri held his breath. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there. He was pretty sure that they were out of town by now.

After a bit of debating, the robbers decided that they had nothing better to do with Dimitri, and his cooperation made them reluctant to kill him. However, it wouldn't be so simple.

Two blocks away from the police station, they pushed him out of the back of the van, his hands tied behind his back with a zip-tie and his mouth gagged.

"Just go in the direction of the station and someone will help you," one of the robbers said. "And don't tell them in which direction we headed. We know which bank you go to, and it would be easy for us to wait and see when you'll be by again."

Dimitri shuddered, and the van was closed and drove off. He hesitated for a while, before he headed in the direction of the police station. A lot of people walked past him, pretending that they didn't see him. It wasn't until he was on the same block as the police station that an officer finally noticed him.

They questioned him in a blur, and Dimitri wasn't even sure if he answered. He'd just wanted to ask the bank about his account, and now he just wanted to go to sleep and pretend that this entire day was nothing more but a twisted nightmare.

He was right in his assumption that they were in a different town. The police contacted the police from his own town, and the officer that found him offered to take him home.

He never thought that the day would come where he was taken from one police station to another, but it happened. He was questioned again, and again, he wasn't sure if he'd answered. He was just so tired, and he was wondering what Carlos was doing.

It was only after another round of questioning that they led him to the lobby, and it was the sound of a familiar voice that finally snapped him out of his stupor.

"Dimitri!"

He looked up, and he was startled to see Carlos, but happy nonetheless. The Cuban wrapped him in a hug, planting a kiss on his head, letting him know how worried he had been.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help you," Carlos whispered.

Dimitri burst into tears, which had been building the entire day. He was finally safe. And he was with the person that made him feel safe.

I got the idea from a prompt, but it doesn't follow the prompt exactly. It was: 'Imagine person A of your OTP going to the bank to sort out an issue on their bank statement when suddenly a group of robbers, including person B (And maybe also person C) show up and B grabs A as a hostage, pressing a gun to their head. The robbers grab the money they demanded and go, but B drags A along with them as "insurance" and they end up, somehow, on a romantic run from the authorities. How they end up like that is up to you.' I have another idea which is also a variation of this prompt, which will be in the near future.