A/N: Starting work on this chapter right after finishing the last, thanks to Peppermint423 instantly favoriting it and a new cup of coffee. E.E.V.E. says hello again, and would like to thank you for giving her a proper use. Also, thank you guest, your identity is a mystery and still I feel the need to thank you. Also Yaoi Ninja is the one to kick me back into working, so thanks mate! And I hope that the loyal Scarlet Daydreamer, r2mich2, Sleepery, TheDeadOne28 and The Russian Vixen are still with us! Seeing names pop up more than once makes me feel loved lol, thanks everyone who has reviewed, I'll try not to disappoint any more of you and update more than once a month, no promises though. Two jobs, remember, supports my habits of living and eating lol.

ONWARD! I own nothing but E.E.V.E., and even that is pushing it! Lol

Gilbert B.

Everything was black. The last thing that Gilbert could remember was feeling light headed and then the darkness. He was in the makeshift hospital, visiting with Lovino he knew that much. It hadn't come as much of a surprise that he was taking time to remember everything, considering the amount of heat he was putting out, it must have boiled his brain, but Gil was sure it wouldn't be permanent. A normal human would have died from an experience like that, but those were some of the perks of being countries, surviving things your body knew it couldn't survive. Though, he was still convinced that if he was better prepared, or maybe more in tune with Lovino's needs, that he could have saved him from that trauma, but in his panic he had been little use to the one person who really needed him. He kept letting his mind wander down that road, even though he knew nothing good could come of it. There was little else to think of in this dark void.

"Stop beating yourself up, there was nothing you could do Gilbert."

There was that voice, soothing and deep, coming from all possible angles like it was surrounding him. It echoed in the empty space Gilbert was trapped in, bouncing from walls he could only imagine were there. Everything here was black here, no light, no dark, just emptiness. The lack of any light or darkness, it was eerie, and a bit soothing which only proved to unsettle him more.

"Who are you?" He called out into the void, unable to feel whether he was standing on the ground, or if there was even a ground there for him to stand on in the first place.

"I am Sir Gillen of the Teutonic Knights and the Germanic States. Though as of late, I have been called only Gil or Gilly by those who I am… associated with."

"Oh… So you're me?" Gilbert asked wiggling his toes to see if he could feel the pressure of the floor on them, only to discover there was in fact no floor below him.

"No. We are separate entities, I am from a parallel world, one of many I imagine, but this is the only one that yours has ever come into contact with, making the others irrelevant for the time being."

"Ir-elephant you say?" Gilbert asked feeling more uneasy the longer he stayed there, but refusing to let it show, "I don't believe you, show me your koala-fications! Kesese!"

"I didn't think you hit your head that hard! Can you not see that this is no time for bad jokes?!"

"I can't see a damn thing!" Gilbert grimaced, waving a hand in front of his face, "Where are we even at? How can I take this seriously if I can't even see? This is probably just a crappy dream or something."

"You are in the dark recesses of my mind, a clear and peaceful place for-"

"Your mind sucks ass!" Gilbert interrupted making faces at the darkness, "There's nothing in here!"

"I think you would find that it is wise to not insult the omnipresent voice who is in control of your current situation .You will not interrupt me again, my patience is wearing thin with you, and our time here is limited."

Gilbert smirked at the scolding voice of his second player, "Alright, oh powerful Gillen, bestow your ultimate wisdom on my simple and unworthy mind."

"You are almost as insufferable as you were the last time we met, Gilbert."

"Alright, that's nice, but I was in the middle of some very important things mister cryptic voice from another dimension," Gilbert said, now that he knew what he was facing his confidence was back and he felt self-assured once again, "We've never met, so why don't you hurry this up so that I can get back to those very important, very awesome things I was doing."

"We don't have long here, but I've kept you here in order to minimize the damage done to your mind and body during our split. You will need your strength to keep that important person safe."

"Lovino? Is he in trouble?" Gilbert called out into the void, "You have to let me go!"

"That is why you are here! You need to save him this time, time is almost up! I won't have enough time to explain the enormity of your situation; Speak with James, Canada from my world, I have put this split off for as long as I could. Ask him about the machine! He knows more than you think he does, but he will not give the information to you easily. You must put your trust in him Gilbert! No matter what he does."

Gilbert turned to the side hearing the voice shift to his left and stop booming around him. He thought that someone had moved a mirror there, but it didn't take him long to realize it was not himself he was looking at. This man's white hair was long and tied back into a neat ponytail with a rich shade of pink ribbon, scars dotted his face and his eyes were more purple than the ruby red of his own. He was dressed in a well pressed suit that reminded Gilbert of Austria and showed its age through wear and a few tightly stitched rips. His raspberry colored eyes seemed distant, full of wisdom, and heavy with knowledge Gilbert wasn't sure he wanted to learn.

"And Gilbert," The man broke the silence, shocking Gilbert out of his stupor, "Tell him I am so sorry."

Gillen reached out and gently pushed Gilbert backwards, toppling him over and filling him with that dreadful feeling of falling from a great height.

Gilbert gasped as he was thrust back into the real world, the sign of his old iron cross burning behind his eyes in white. He could hear people screaming as he became more aware of his surroundings, but he couldn't see a thing. It dawned on his bleary brain that there was a sheet over his face and he managed to push it out of the way with his sore arms, they felt heavy, like someone had gone and poured concrete over them. When he adjusted to the light, everything was in chaos, a loud, blurry, confusing mess of chaos. He turned his head towards the loudest noises, trying to make sense of it before braving the impossible task of sitting up.

Feliciano was screaming for his brother and for Gilbert alternately as Lutz held him back and tried to keep him from fighting his way to Lovino. Both Ludwig and Antonio were holding Lovino down on his bed as he shouted curses at them in his hoarse voice and struggled against them weakly, it seemed like he was giving up on it, as he grew quieter and started to cry bitterly, still cursing at them quietly. Antonio was trying to soothe him by speaking in Italian patiently and blocking his view to Gilbert's bed. Francis was on a bed now too, being tended to by Oliver as he half-heartedly assured the pink haired Brit that he would be okay.

Gilbert groaned as he turned his head the other way and started trying to get up, failing miserabley, but drawing the attention of a male nurse with short spikey hair that reminded him of a hedgehog.

"Dio! Are you alright sir!?" The man raced over and pressed his stethoscope to Gilbert's oddly bare chest, "You should lie down and rest! Please, do not get up!"

"I'm fine." Gilbert snapped swatting at the man's arm and sitting up with difficulty. It was then that he noticed the heavy concentration of nurses and both doctors at the table next to him, which explained why Oliver was let alone to tend to Francis.

"Clear!" The doctor shouted, before shocking the body on the next bed followed by the sound of the person tensing and then going limp.

"We've got him!" A nurse said, "His heart is stabilizing and his temperature is dropping into the normal range."

Gilbert stood up using the mail nurse to support his weight so he could look over their shoulders at whoever was lying there. Gillen and a second France were side by side in beds, Gillen, as white as a ghost and not looking very alive he was completely naked and surprised Gilbert when he suddenly gasped for air and opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling with blind grey eyes before they rolled back into his head and he began slipping back into unconsciousness. France number two was coughing and sputtering as he tried to grab onto one of the nurses, pointing at his throat. She shook her head and gently told him that he could not have water yet, and explained that the IV would get him hydrated much faster.

"Gilbert!" Lovino's voice broke through the haze of Gilbert's mind while the nurses started prodding Gillen for additional tests and administering medicines and liquids for the pain and dehydration so his body would recover.

"Lovino!" Gilbert said, turning to face the Italian. One of the nurses who no longer needed to tend to Gillen took pity on the human crutch Gilbert had turned her coworker into and grabbed him a wheel chair to settle the nation into. He quickly thanked them as he took a seat and the male nurse wheeled him to Lovino's side.

"You were dead." Lovino breathed staring at Gilbert apprehensively, "You died, I just saw you die."

"Si, amigo, they called a time of death and everything." Antonio confirmed looking equally as shaken.

"Do I look dead to you?" Gilbert asked smirking as per usual, "I wouldn't give up on all this awesome that easily! Kese- Oh, ouch. I feel like I should be dead."

"You want me to help you with that!?" Lovino shouted, reaching out and giving his hair a good tug, "Don't fucking scare me like that you bastard! I'll give you a reason to feel dead!"

"Oww! Give a dead guy a break! I didn't mean it Roma, I'm too awesome to go out like a sissy!" Gilbert laughed, earning him another harder hair pull, "Ow! Owowow! Plus I wouldn't want to upset my sweet, totally not abusive boyfriend."

"Shut up." Lovino snapped, releasing the white hair from between his fingers and shoving the albino away, "You scared me ass hole!"

"Ouch! Hey, I really am sorry I wouldn't worry you on purpose your highness," Gilbert teased as he smiled down at the pouting Italian, "I remember someone else giving me a pretty good scare this morning, call it revenge kesese!"

"For a dead guy, you sure do talk a whole lot." Lovino shot back, before lowering his defensive attitude and frowning giving the panting Spaniard a cautious glance, "I can remember a little more now than I did before."

Gilbert opened his mouth to tell him how great that was, but didn't get the chance as he was interrupted by James stomped into the room demanding to know who was yelling. He stopped when he caught sight of Gilbert.

"Did you split?" James asked cautiously waiting for confirmation from Gilbert who gave it by nodding slowly, "Where is he?!" James demanded pushing past the people who stood in his way, Matthew included, as he tried to get to Gillen. Matthew didn't take that as easily as some would think, he retaliated by shoving James back and jogging to get in his way again.

"Mattie, you don't understand," James sighed, grabbing his shoulders and moving him to the side firmly, "you can't, but please, trust me?"

Gilbert got a bad feeling when the angry Canadian made a tight lipped frown and whispered something in the ear of the smaller blonde that made him go white as a sheet. Matthew shook his head, pushing his hair back from his face with one hand while the other gripped at his shirt hemming. He slowly moved out of the way, like he was in a trance, his frightened eyes darted over to Gilbert before he ducked his head to avoid the questioning red glare.

"He's not awake!" Gilbert blurted out before James could advance any further on the newly arrived second player. He stopped and turned on Gilbert like a bull.

"You," He hissed stomping over and bending down to get right in Gilbert's face to yell at him, "You shouldn't be awake!"

"Well I am," Gilbert challenged sitting up as straight as he could in his chair, "You can't keep this much awesome down."

"I can try." James growled, pulling his fist back to have his elbow connect with something hard and hot. He turned in surprise, seeing Matthew on his butt holding his bleeding nose with teary eyes and a determined glare replacing his normally soft features.

"No." Matthew said in his mouse of a yelling voice, "You have to stop this senseless violence Mathieu!"

"If I stop now you know what will happen." James said dropping his arms to his sides and balling his hands into tight fists.

"Why?" Matthew asked wiping at the blood pouring out of his nose, only managing to smear it on his face, "Why does that have to happen? I don't think you thought this all the way through! There's another way, there has to be another way!"

"There isn't another way! Believe me, I've tried Matt!" James growled, trying to keep his voice low enough for only Matthew to hear, "Someone's gonna die, and I'll be damned if I let that happen again!"

"Wait, Gillen said this time, that I needed to save him this time, why this time?" Gilbert demanded, trying to get out of his chair, "How many times do you think I failed him?"

"Hey, hey, why can't we all just calm down, huh?" Spain interjected, laughing nervously as he handed the downed Canadian some gauze pads and tissues while giving Prussia a serious warning look, "No one needs to fight, this is a healing place amigos! How about we all switch to good vibes? Fusososososo."

"No one's fighting here, amigo," Gilbert hissed glaring at Spain, who rolled his eyes and put his hands up in faux surrender, "Not yet, anyway. This guy is hiding something, I know it! Fess up you traitor, or face mein awesome wrath!"

"I'm not hiding anything! I'm cleaning up after your stupid FUCKING MESS! AGAIN!" James shouted back, making Matthew flinch and Lovino curse as he put his hands over his ears, "If you wouldn't have fucked up in the first place, then we wouldn't be stuck doing this stupid shit! You fuck everything up, and then you get to forget it! I don't get to forget it, I have to remember everything!"

"If you don't stop yelling, I'm going to fucking kill you myself." They all turned to Lovino's bed expecting him to be up in arms, but instead they saw Flavio, leaning on the end of Lovino's bed and giving them a haggard look that told them that he would make good on his threat.

"Hey! Why don't you go lean on someone else's bed!" Lovino grumbled kicking at the person he held personally responsible for his own hospitalization.

"How about I just have Toni take me for a walk, huh?" Flavio winked at the Spaniard who shook his head, refusing to look at the struggling blonde Italian.

"What's the matter not in the mood?" He teased hobbling his way closer to the brunette, his new legs giving him some problems with stability.

"No," Antonio shrugged off Flavio's heavy hand on his arm and stepped away from him, "I'm leaving; I have to go, hasta luego amigos."

He got almost all the way to the threshold before he turned back, Flavio's face lit up, hoping that Antonio had changed his mind about the walk.

"I'll come by tomorrow Lovino." He said, purposefully staring at Lovino and completely ignoring the disbelieving stare of Flavio and the sound of hurt he made when he turned away from him once again.

Before Flavio could throw a fit, the doctors interrupted the battling nations to tell them to take their fighting somewhere that patients weren't resting or to cut it out.

"Fine, fuck this," James swore under his breath before grabbing onto Matthew's wrist and dragging him up off the floor and after Antonio, "We can to talk to Andre and Antonio, they might have an idea that's worth looking into."

"Okay." Matthew shot an apologetic look Gilbert's way as he was dragged along by his larger counterpart.

"Keep an eye on that one Gilbert," James shot back at the albino as an afterthought, "I'd tell you to watch 'em both, but I know how good you are at that."

"What's that guys problem…" Gilbert muttered to himself as he turned his chair back to Lovino and the eerie copy that was Flavio who was slumped over leaning on the railing of Lovino's bed and staring at the floor. He reminded Gilbert of the angel of grief, one arm sprawled out aimlessly and the other keeping his head off the cold metal of the railing as he tried desperately not to cry. He reached a hand out to touch him, hoping to offer some form of comfort to the poor boy in front of him but he was cut off by a familiar spiteful voice.

"What's the matter blondie?" Lovino taunted earning him a wary look from Gilbert, he knew better than to kick a man when he was down but Lovino apparently did not. He had more reasons than he knew how to count for hating the blonde at the end of his bed, but Gilbert wished he would let him be, "He's never gotten angry at you before, has he? No, you never hurt me before now, not like this," He gestured to his torso in the hospital bed, "it must really hurt to see that he doesn't love you like you thought he did. That there's someone else, just like you, but just different enough that he would rather have them. Tell me does it hurt to fall out of his 'good graces?' I guess he doesn't like a guy with a temper."

Lovino scoffed loudly, turning his nose up, but Gilbert saw the way his face was splotched with red and his eyes glittered with tears. He opened his mouth to try to say something again, but this time it was Flavio who interrupted.

"He didn't want you either bitch!" Flavio screamed back shaking the frame of Lovino's bed when he jerked himself upright. He was crying too now, angry tears flowing freely down his flawless pale skin. He hiccupped and rubbed at his eyes while steadying his shaking body on the railing again.

"At least when he dumped ME, I didn't turn into a psycho and try to KILL YOU!" Lovino yelled back, his voice breaking into a hoarse rasp and ending in a fit of coughing and wiping angrily at his face.

"That's enough!" A tall nurse with dark curly hair and olive colored skin intervened, getting between the two and forcing a cup of water into Lovino's hands with a bright orange straw in it, "You, drink up, and BOTH of you stop fighting over this stupid guy! He's obviously not worth either of your time if he's turning you against each other! I might not know what exactly is going on, but if I remember right, you two were pretty damn close before all this! Like, body-sharing close! If I EVER had someone that close, I'd be damned if I let something as stupid as a guy come between us!"

The two continued glaring away from each other, but neither spoke against her as she continued to scold them for fighting with one another, worrying their brother and putting their health in jeopardy over something stupid. She finished by turning back to Lovino and shaking a finger at him.

"And shame on you for behaving like that in front of him!" She pointed at Gilbert who shuffled back half a wheel turn, not wanting to be the target of her long winded wrath, "He's been nothing but kind and loyal to you the whole time you've been here while you make a fool of him in front of all your friends. Shame on you mister Italy man! You finish that water, and then you apologize! Both of you to both of them!"

She stormed off, leaving three gawking countries in her wake and a bewildered looking doctor to explain her outburst.

"I swear she's not usually like that!" He promised, flipping through his charts anxiously for some sort of saving answer, "I don't know what could have gotten into that girl! Always so quiet and nice, I guess it really is the quiet ones you need to look out for, I'm so sorry sirs!"

Romano pouted and sucked down more of the water, while Flavio looked angrily after the woman and waved off the flustered doctor. Gilbert was the first to actually speak, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he approached the two again on his squeaky wheels.

"So how are ya feeling?" He asked, putting a reassuring hand on Lovino's as he spoke facing the blonde who was still reeling from the scolding he had gotten.

"How do you think I'm doing?" Flavio sighed, turning to face Gilbert tears quietly falling from those eerie grey eyes of his, "I don't know what's going on, my boyfriends left me, I don't have any friends, and a stranger just screamed at me."

"Toni sucks." Lovino grumbled pulling the sheet back and inviting him into his bed, "don't get any ideas though jerk, you tried to kill me."

Flavio choked on a laugh before he crawled into bed with Lovino, who if asked would say he tolerated his presence enough for now. He was like a sick animal, scared and alone in a scary place; Lovino didn't think he could turn him away even though a part of him wanted to. He wanted to hit and scream and blame everything on Flavio, but he knew he couldn't. Flavio could be an ass, but so could Lovino and for as long as he could remember, they'd always had each other, no matter what. Even though there was some resentment between the two, they had shared a body, and for a short time, a mind. They understood each other like no one else could, and that meant something to both of them, even if Lovino would never willingly admit it.

"I'm sorry," Flavio whined, rubbing his face into the pillows, "I didn't want to kill you, just mess you up a little… Everyone likes you better and I always feel like I come in second to you."

"No one likes me." Lovino laughed lightly smacking him on the head, "I don't play well with anyone but my brother, and even then that's a stretch."

"I dunno Lovino, you play pretty well with me, kesese!" Prussia cracked grinning ear to ear as he watched the two start to get along for the first time in a long while.

"Shut up stupid potato bastard!" Lovino said half-heartedly, looking around Gilbert at the doctor's fussing around France's bed, "Is Francis okay? Not that I really care, but…"

"I think so," Gilbert said glancing over his shoulder, "want me to go ask?"

"I dunno, last time you went to ask a question…" Lovino frowned but ended up giving him the go ahead anyway. Gilbert wanted to make sure he was alright, just like Lovino did. He'd been around, and when you've been around as long as they have, well, you know, those people you share that time with become important.

"I'll be right back." Gilbert said confidently, leaning over and kissing the top of Lovino's head, "Don't be scared princess, I'll save the day! Just you wait and see!"

"What is wrong with your brain potato-eater?" Lovino asked narrowing his eyes at the Prussian's teasing, "Do you want me to hurt you?"

"You're the one dating me." He laughed as he wheeled across the room to Francis' bed, "Oi! Francey Pants! You dead yet?"

"Ugh, no, not yet, but thank you for your concern mon ami." France groaned sitting up in his bed unsteadily, "My head is killing, could you let my lovely nurse through Gilbert? I'm hoping she may have more for the pain than just her stunning beauty, though that may be enough of a distraction from the pain that I would live again."

The nurse blushed and hurriedly switched the bag attached to his IV while Francis made eyebrows at her and continued to compliment her as she went.

"Grazie." She said before nearly running away from the two nations watching after her.

"Ah, farewell my gorgeous angel of mercy! I will always remember you!" France called after her with a warm smile before turning back to his old friend, "However, you look far from fair Gilbert, what did you do to yourself?"

"Same thing you did ugly." Gilbert stuck his tongue out and began trying to learn to balance on the back wheels of his chair.

"Oh! You wound me!" France nearly wailed putting a hand on his forehead dramatically, "And now you say there are two of you? Mon dieu, we are all doomed!"

"Ah, can it baguette breath! The world is twice as awesome now!" Gilbert tried to make a cool pose in his half way balanced chair, but ended up falling back onto all fours in a panic, "Oh! Not cool! I almost died! Did you see how awesome I am!?"

"Shoo! I need to rest, go bother the other awesome beer goblin!" France frowned waving his hands at the albino. They might be friends, but Francis really did just want to sleep, he'd tried not to split and it was tiring work, "Go smother Francois maybe." Francis grimaced as he remembered his other half and his bitter disposition.

"I can hear you." A deep raspy voice broke through their banter and grabbed their full attention.

An empty cot was all that separated the two France's, and Gilbert was suddenly aware of how frightened that Francis truly was of his dark counterpart. The normally talkative and animated man was still as a stone as he stared down the blue eyed man giving them a glare that could kill a lesser man. The cot between the two could never be enough space to separate them and Francis turned away from him, quietly and politely asking Gilbert to have him moved somewhere else. Gilbert nodded, calling Francis' nurse over before looking back at Francois, who was smiling to himself as he stared at the ceiling. Gilbert frowned, he couldn't fathom what it was about him that kept Francis so secretive, but he knew it couldn't be good. Not with the way he was smiling.

A/N I know this still took for freaking ever… but it's pretty long, eh? I hope it makes sense… I edited and changed it like three times and I think I'm pretty happy with it… As always, please review and let me know how I'm holding up my end with the whole plot and story telling thing. I love to hear from you!