Our Trio's Down To Two

(Revised Version)

A/N: After a concrit review from Bhel-Elryss I decided to go back over this, edit it (actually I ended up rewriting it... that's how much bad content there was in it), and see if it could be improved. Taking into mind their points, I have:

-Removed all accents completely.
-Tried to stick better to canon characterisations. Whereas in the first version they are showing a very human side, this time I am trying to keep their personalities as nations in mind, while still keeping to the original plot.
-Rewritten the ending and actions of characters to keep them realistic.

So, the first version has been deleted, and you now have this one, but it's much better, so that's all good.

I've basically just rewritten the whole thing text-wise, but stuck to the core plot. So, last time was drama. This time, let's aim for a little more realism.

~~::.::~~

There was a thud and a moan of pain as France collapsed to the floor, his legs giving out completely from under him. Spain was the first to skid to a halt from their frantic sprint and turn back, Prussia hot on his heels.

"What the hell are you doing?" France shouted at them.

"What the fuck does it look like we're doing?" Prussia asked as he crouched beside his friend.

France let out a quiet growl and tried his best to shove Prussia and Spain away from him. It didn't work very well due to his weak state, but, he supposed, at least he had tried.

"Mi amigo, hold still. Maybe we can patch this up..." Spain murmured, ignoring the feeble attempts to push him away. He started trying to examine the Frenchman's wounds, praying that the huge amount of blood was covering a relatively minor wound, though just one look showed that to be horrendously untrue.

"You really think you can patch this up?" France asked exasperatedly, gesturing down to the gash in his side. A chunk of his flank was missing, showing ripped muscle tissue and the white flash of ribs. His breath was gasping, and he could feel only one lung was doing its job; he was almost certain the monster's claw had gone straight through the muscle and ripped the vital organ, although it was hard to tell through the blood and tattered skin. Either way, it was no longer working. Had this occurred outside the mansion, perhaps he may have healed with time – but, in here, there was no chance.

Spain fell silent. He knew France's words were true; there was no way to fix this. He looked over to Prussia, and knew he'd come to the same conclusion.

"Can you move?" the albino asked hopefully. France shook his head then sucked in a breath, squeezing his eyes shut. Prussia sighed.

"You two... need to go." France eventually managed, regaining his voice.

"We're not leaving you." Spain burst out. France turned to him and the brunette lowered his head to stare at his lap, clenching his fists. "I don't want to leave you." He corrected in a mumble.

"No, he's right. We're not leaving you." Prussia spoke up.

"Mais-"

"'Mais' nothing." The albino interrupted. "We're not in any immediate danger. The Thing isn't anywhere near here."

"It could pop up at any time! You've seen what that thing does." France pushed.

"If it shows up, then we run." Spain told him. "But as long as it's not here, we'll stay."

"Ja." Prussia agreed. France looked between them, eventually letting out a tired sigh and closing his eyes.

"D'accord." He relented. He didn't think he had enough energy to argue any more. These two were smart enough, they were nations, they had experience in battles and wars; they could look after themselves. "But you are both idiots."

"Takes one to know one, mi amigo." Spain teased, chuckling slightly. France tutted, rolling his eyes slightly.

France shuffled backwards slightly, gritting his teeth as the movement caused him pain, and rested back against the wall. He felt Spain and Prussia move to rest beside him, their shoulders touching his in a silent show of solidarity. It was comforting.

"Hey." Prussia spoke up, a hint of laughter in his voice. "You guys remember that time we all went out drinking with Scotland?"

"Which time? There have been many." France asked jokingly.

"You mean that one time he was literally stone drunk and Eyebrows got so annoyed at you he refused to let him back in the house?" Spain piped up. Prussia laughed.

"That's the one!" he confirmed.

"That was hilarious." The Spaniard grinned.

"Scott is very amusing when he is drunk." France agreed with a weak chuckle of his own. The three friends snickered together at the memory for a moment, but a guttural growl echoed down the empty corridor and interrupted them. Instantly France was serious.

"Go. Now."

Spain's face crumpled, like he wanted to protest but didn't dare. Prussia grasped at France's hand for a moment, a gesture which the blonde thought must be intended to both give and take comfort.

"You be safe now." He told them, smiling sadly at them. Spain leant forward to give the closest thing to a hug as he could without hurting his friend.

"We will. And... you be safe too, sí?" he murmured, a lump forming in his throat.

"Oui." France nodded. He gently pushed Spain away, the brunette reluctantly complying and standing up. Prussia placed a firm hand on France's shoulder, never one for showing too much affection through close gestures. He didn't say any words. He simply stood and, like Spain, looked down to his fallen friend.

"Adios, Francia..." Spain said softly. Prussia nodded, still silent.

"Adieu, mes amis..." France replied, turning his head slightly to watch his friends turn tail and run as the roar of the monster sounded again, much closer. They didn't look back.

France closed his eyes and leaned back again. He was tired.

~~::.::~~

A/N: I hope this has improved significantly from the first version. I certainly like it better, and now I'm going to look back on the first one with shame.

Aaaanywaaay, hopefully you liked this one a lot more, hopefully it's hugely improved, and again, hopefully it crushed your heart and soul.

~Also, thank you to animerockchic for her review on the previous version of this.~

Ciao-ciao!