Lovino muttered something under his breath and swung his arm, the golden spikes that appeared where his hand had traced the path making it clear he used Rosario Impale.

And it was heading straight for them.

Alfred cursed again, hearing the spikes make a few dents in the back of the Prius and a high whining sound from where air was escaping from one of the wheels.

"The tire's flat!" Alfred cried, pointing out the obvious.

Gilbert cursed, taking another shot and firing.

Lovino saw it coming and ducked slightly, the bullet shooting by his neck harmlessly.

Gilbert tried firing again. "I'm out!" he cried, looking back at the oncoming car.

Only Lovino was no longer standing halfway out.

Alfred muttered under his breath and jumped out of the car, turning to face the oncoming Mafia. "Kiku! Get Gilbert, Ludwig, and the Pope up to the mansion!" he shouted, looking around in an attempt to see where the Mafia was.

"Hai(Yes)," Kiku replied, getting out of the car and looking around while Gilbert slid out of the sunroof.

"Gilbert, help me get the Pope out," Ludwig grunted, cradling Feliciano's head while he moved to kick open the door.

Gilbert nodded, and went to open the door for Ludwig when they heard a groan.

The German brother's eyes shot downward to Feliciano's unconscious form. Ludwig realized his breathing had changed.

Thisisn'tgood, Ludwig thought, realizing Feliciano was starting to come back to consciousness. Ifhedoesn'tgetmedicalattentionsoon,thepainwilloverwhelmhim.

"West, let's go," Gilbert said, opening the door and diving out the driver's side door. He swung around to help Ludwig get Feliciano out.

Ludwig passed Feliciano to Gilbert's hands and followed them out.

Ludwig took a quick pass over the area, trying to spot any Mafia members that may be going to assault them.

"All clear at the moment," Kiku said, joining them as he went around the back of the car. "Two of them have engaged Alfred, so the others have to be nearby."

Ludwig nodded and opened his mouth to reply when they heard another groan, this time with some coughing.

"Gilbert…let me stand…"

His voice was so weak; if they weren't trying to hear him they probably would've mistaken it for the wind.

"Are you sure-?" Gilbert started asking.

Feliciano said softly, but with the strength benefitting the Pope, "Let me stand."

Gilbert nodded and set Feliciano on the ground, helping him stand up.

Feliciano didn't look well. His pallor was ghostly white, signaling how much blood he had lost.

Ludwig walked over, whispering to Gilbert, "Help Kiku scout out the perimeter."

Gilbert nodded and Ludwig took his position in helping Feliciano stand.

"How're you feeling?" Ludwig asked, taking Feliciano's arm and swinging it around his shoulders. He closed his eyes, trying to hear Feliciano's breathing.

Feliciano's breathing was still labored – and shallow to boot. That wasn't a good sign.

"I've felt better," Feliciano mumbled, looking around. "Where are we?"

"We're almost at Arthur's house," Ludwig replied, nodding to Gilbert and Kiku. "Come on, we must go before one of the Mafia get past Alfred."

"Alfred? When did he show up?" Feliciano asked.

Ludwig remembered that Alfred only showed up after Feliciano had healed him and fallen cataleptic.

Instead of answering, Ludwig helped Feliciano turn around to search for Kiku.

"Are you ready?" Kiku asked, standing ahead of them and examining the route. He was sliding a cell phone into his pocket.

Gilbert joined them, saying, "We'd better go. I just checked with Alfred and the only one he's not handling at the moment is that chick that was firing the gun at us."

"She's probably heading to the roof of one of the buildings," Ludwig said, starting to examine the rooftops for any sign of the Belarusian. "Try and snipe us off from above."

"Then we'd better move," Gilbert said. By unspoken agreement, he looped Feliciano's other arm around his shoulder and they started making their way through the abandoned streets.

Kiku was keeping ahead of them, making sure none of the Mafia had swung around to ambush them from ahead while Gilbert and Ludwig kept their eyes on the roofs. They still let Feliciano walk, but were ready to pick him up again if he made any sound of pain.

Feliciano wasn't faring very well. He could hardly breathe; his ribs hurt far too much for him to allow his lungs to expand efficiently. After his ribs, the one that hurt the most was the wound that had originally been on Ludwig's temple. It was still dripping blood onto his shoulder, which was slowly making its way through the pajama cloth and sliding down his back.

He gasped as his leg collided with a stray tire. The pain shot up his leg and nearly made Feliciano faint again.

The Pope's gasp didn't go unnoticed as, without breaking step, Ludwig swung Feliciano up so he was holding the Italian. Gilbert fell behind them to keep an eye from behind. Ludwig ignored Feliciano's complaints as he weakly started struggling,

"Kiku, how far are we?" Ludwig asked as they continued running.

"Not far," Kiku replied, spotting the ordinate fence that signaled the edge of Arthur's extensive lawn.

Gilbert cried behind them, "Incoming!"

He had spotted Natalya standing on the roof of one of the last buildings, her gun pointed directly at them.

They heard the gun fire, and Kiku collapsed onto the pavement. His blood had started spilling onto the pavement, and from Ludwig's angle it was impossible to tell if he was still alive or not.

"Well, that was easy, da?" Ivan asked, walking right up to Kiku's body and kicking it aside like a toy. "Why don't you hand us the Pope now?"

Ludwig growled, and was about to retort when a bullet imbedded itself in Ivan's shoulder.

Standing behind him was Francis, holding a smoking gun slightly below where Ivan's shoulder was. "Grab Kiku and come on!" Francis stated, turning and running for the mansion.

Ludwig nodded to Gilbert, who scooped the Japanese male up and followed Francis with Ludwig in hot pursuit.

They could hear the bullets firing at them, and Ludwig saw one bullet skim Gilbert's back, but that didn't stop Gilbert from running after Francis.

Ludwig felt a bullet pierce his thigh. He winced but kept running, knowing that it was a bad idea to put weight on that leg now, but his adrenaline was up; he wouldn't feel any pain as long as he stayed tense and kept running.

Francis hit the intercom and said something into it and the gate opened. "Hurry!" he cried at Gilbert and Ludwig.

The German brothers didn't waste a moment in running inside the grounds and up the pathway into the house.

"Well, you bloody wankers aren't in any good condition, are you?" Arthur asked, standing in the entry foyer watching them.

/AN

I'm sorry this took so long to put up! This is where I'd make excuses but the simple fact is that I haven't had the time. I'm trying to work on the next few chapters right now but I'm not at all sure when they'll be up.

R&R Please!

AN/