I was going to post this yesterday but AO3 went down as I tried to post so I only got the one out.

T/W: Mentions of Xenophobia

Chapter 61: Brothers Room

27th December 1991

Gilbert was parked outside the airport, leaning on Ivan's yellow Lada Niva that he had borrowed to get there. It seemed Ivan had sold his other car at some point and now only had the one.

He looked at his watch anxiously before looking back over to the doors. He was stuck worried about both his brother and Ivan right now. He was worried his brother might not be treated very nicely by the border guards, he was also worried about having left Ivan alone at home.

He had almost followed through with the idea of dragging him out to the car and taking him with him. However he threw that out when he realised how fucked they would be if they got stopped.

Having an unconscious guy who barely looked alive in a car with bandages on his head was already bad, having him in a car with two Germans was even worse. The police would definitely arrest them, even more so if they realised the man was Russia.

Russian police were not known for their inclusivity. Let alone to Germans. The idiom 'what's good for a Russian equals death for a German' proved that Russians still held a grudge against Germany. Even if most of the people responsible were either dead or old as fuck right now and the bulk load of living Germans had nothing to do with it.

So Gilbert had left him at home with his bird to keep him company on the off chance he woke up.

'Bruder!' Ludwig called out as he left the airport, bringing Gilbert out his thoughts.

'Took you long enough! Get in! I am freezing!' Gilbert yelled back to him as he got in the car.

Ludwig placed his bag in the back before getting in the passenger seat.

'Where did you get the car?' Ludwig asked, confused.

'It's Russia's. He used to let me borrow his car before I had my own so I figured that deal still stands.' Gilbert smirked as he started the car and drove off.

'Well don't go driving it like you normally drive then. If you damage it he will not be pissed.' Ludwig warned, even if the car was tatty the Russian would probably notice.

'It's a 4x4, not like I can drive it the way I want to. These things are dull on normal roads. I don't know why he likes them so much.' Gilbert groaned.

'So he really isn't forcing you to be here then if you're driving his car around freely.' Ludwig sighed in relief.

'Like I said, he is unconscious and he never would have forced me here. I told you I know him well, I am not an idiot.' Gilbert responded.

'I know you're not. I just worry, especially now.' Ludwig said sadly.

'His Bosses were the only reason I was stopped from seeing you. He knew I was meeting you back then before the wall. He had been excited when we came up with the plan. He always treated me differently from the others, it drove them insane, he trusted I would come back for him.' Gilbert explained.

'What if it's different now you don't live with him?' Ludwig asked.

'There was no guarantee after Stalingrad I would willingly see him again and he still helped me escape, even though he could have kept me as his personal plaything. So I trust things to be the same.' Gilbert said honestly.

After some more general talking Gilbert had gotten to the house and parked the car up on the drive. Locking it after Ludwig grabbed his things, he led Ludwig inside.

'You can stay in my old room.' Gilbert said as he took his boots off.

'Where are you staying?' Ludwig asked, taking his own off.

'In Ivan's room. To keep an eye on him. It's only across the hall so don't worry.' Gilbert smiled, leading Ludwig to his old room.

Going inside Ludwig placed his bag down and looked over the mostly empty room. Most of the stuff had been moved out when Gilbert 'left' to stay in his own apartment in East Berlin. Ivan had shipped it over to him. One thing caught his eye, Gilbert's old Karabiner that was still propped up by the bed where Gilbert had left it.

'Is there always a gun there?' Ludwig laughed as he picked it up.

'It's my old one from Stalingrad, I swapped it with his Mosin to blend it when I escaped Stalingrad. The asshole kept it and gave it back to me when I lived here. Never sent it back to me when I left, guess he couldn't send it.' Gilbert smiled as he remembered that night.

'He trusted you not to shoot him then?' Ludwig said curiously, seeing the gun indeed had bullets in the mag.

'Of course, the awesome me fights fair. I wouldn't shoot him in the back.' Gilbert boasted.

'You do not fight fair brother. Stop lying.' Ludwig sighed with a small smile.

'It was his bosses he had to stop me shooting and them KGB assholes who would randomly drag him away to torture him when he disobeyed them.' Gilbert spat.

'That sounds familiar.' The German sighed sadly.

'Anyway, the awesome me will let you settle in as I cook you some food. I went shopping before getting you so there is actually nice stuff to make. Just gotta grab the bags from the car.' Gilbert smirked, before walking off.

Ludwig unpacked his bag and looked around the room as he did. There were still some photos left on the wall of Gilbert and Ivan. All of them his brother looks genuinely happy in. He began to believe that maybe Gilbert was right that Ivan was harmless to him. He did let him have a gun, leave when he was able according to Gilbert, have a car and he did look so happy to be with him.

Ludwig walked over to the bedside table and opened the draw to put his diary inside, surprised to find a pile of photos inside it. Taking them out they seemed to be of him in meetings, he could see the Russian's uniform sleeve in some of them.

'Must have taken these with a secret camera, that's kind of creepy.' Ludwig murmured to himself.

Flipping around he saw a note written on the back, it was in the Russian's handwriting.

'May 1973 meeting, day 3. Germany was annoyed at America and England fighting again so he put them in their place. Your brother is very good at leading a meeting, da? They listened to him right away this time.'

Ludwig noticed there was a note like this on the back of almost all of them. Seemingly Ivan updating Gilbert on how he was doing.

Ludwig wasn't sure how to feel. On the one hand the fact the Russian had been spying on him for years at these meetings made him feel icky, on the other hand the fact he had seemingly been doing it to keep Gilbert up to date on how he was doing was sweet.

Ludwig then thought back to the few times over the years a photo of Gilbert randomly appeared in his bag or paperwork after a meeting the Russian attended. He always thought it was a taunt back then but looking at it going both ways, he wondered if that was Ivan passing on that Gilbert was okay, maybe Gilbert had asked him to do this.

Ludwig left the room and made his way over to the Russian's knocking softly before walking on in. Russia was lying on his back tucked into covers, he looked pale and like he was dead, the only sign he was alive was the fact the covers moved up and down slightly as he breathed.

Walking closer he saw Gilbird asleep, snuggled in the Russian's scarf just under his chin. Gilbert's bird was very attached to him so seeing him just chilling with the Russian was weird but maybe Gilbert had asked him to. Either way Gilbird had to trust the Russian a lot to sleep that close to him.

'I am starting to think you might actually love my brother but don't mistake that for me trusting you. After all you did, I don't know if I ever can and I will still happily kill you if you hurt him.' Ludwig said lowly as he stared at the unconscious Russian.