This is so late...

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a present from me to you! A NEW CHAPTER! This marks the second arc of the story. I'm sorry for the long wait...I was debating several ways this arc could go, and this proved to be what I think works the best.

Thank you so much for your support, everyone!

Disclaimer: Axis Powers: Hetalia does not belong to me.

"So, do we have a deal, da?" He smiled through the dilapidated warehouse, out of place in an executive gray suit and the usual scarf.

"You think this is enough of a trade?!" The bearded man in black sneered, flinging the briefcase of rubles across the wooden desk. Borislav Grekov had flown in from Yekatirinburg for something that wouldn't even buy half a decent weapon.

Ivan watched the paper rectangles flutter to the floor, and gave a melodramatic sigh.

"Comrade, I'm afraid your prices are too high." Grekov sneered in response, slamming the case of weapons and locking it. There was hardly anyone who would vouch for his side of the Bratva back in Russia. Braginski still lived up to his name 'Ivan the Terrible', although he was doing 'business' on the other side of the world.

Raivis Galante trembled behind his smiling superior as the other man growled.

"What is it then you will take?!" His voice laced with an authentic Russian accent, he nearly flipped the old table over in rage.
Ivan shrugged.

"There is just not enough to be gained," He looked back at the bills that were scattered on the floor.

Grekov fingered the knife in his pocket. This man was surely a pain...

"Of course, there are better weapons in the market, for an even better price, da?" Ivan inquired, moving his eyes from the floor to the angered businessman.

"You should have thought of that beforehand!" In a wave of fury, the brunette threw the knife, its sharp blade gleaming in the fluorescent light, and aimed towards the taller man's chest.

Ivan's lips curled into a slight frown when his spectacled assistant appeared from the left in an instant, the blade in between his forefinger and thumb.

Grekov's outstretched hand trembled, sending a shaking sensation that traveled up his arm and eventually his whole body, before he fell back, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
The taller man smiled at the apparent fear in his coal-black eyes.

"It is such a shame, Comrade," Taking a few steps back, his gloved hand fell upon a broken water pipe in the cracked wall, tearing it from the plaster without so much as cringing, and sending the other man into a gasping fit.

"No-no! Please, I-"
"There is no need to fear. I will make sure that you thought of your life well, da?" Eduard looked back at another man, who stood to the right of the shuddering Latvian. His eyebrows were creased and his hazel eyes were tired, but his lips were closed in such a way that one would think he had been scolded for speaking too much.

With a quick bob of his chin, Toris knelt on the floor, silently-but quickly-gathering the rubles back into the suitcase.

Ivan, whose head was craned over his shoulder, returned to facing Grekov, who was now holding his head, and doubled over in terror.

"Now, now. I haven't started yet, da?"

Toris bit his lip, focusing on his task as high pitched screams echoed through the walls, and something was splattering against the walls.

The drive back was a silent one.

The three 'Baltic Brothers'-as everyone called them, for each were from a Baltic state-lived on a reasonable salary, sharing an apartment not far from the imposing black building where they worked.

Raivis kept his eyes on his neat leather shoes, moving his tightly pressed lips against the other and keeping quiet. He was of a short stature, with frightened purple eyes and curly golden hair. Many easily mistook him for a boy in his preteen years.

Toris looked out the window, dark circles beneath his eyes as he watched a young couple, huddled in winter jackets with their cheeks and noses red, but their lips pressed in a smile, hurried across a crosswalk with their arms intertwined.

"What a tiring day it was." Ivan muttered, annoyance evident in his purple eyes as Eduard drove again at the green light.

"He-he wasn't of much use, r-right, Mr. Braginski?" Toris pinched the younger man's arm and Eduard inhaled.
Raivis spoke too much sometimes.

Much to their relief, Ivan returned to his smile.

"Oh, he was of plenty use, Raivis!" The Latvian pressed his head against the leather seat in relief, and Eduard quietly exhaled.

"Now, the others will know better than to waste my time, da?"

For the rest of the time, the passengers of the sleek black car were silent.

Ivan pushed against the rotating glass door of their apartment complex.

The lobby was what one would expect for a residential building in an elite New York City neighborhood, with a intricately-carved chandelier that hung from the middle of the ceiling, and a carpeted floor with rich Persian designs.

Striding into an open elevator, the metallic doors slid close as he pushed the round button that gleamed the number seven in a red light.

As he stood, watching his reflection in the silver doors, he envisioned her face.

Yao.

His beautiful, perfect-in-every-way wife, who was probably preparing dinner with her doll-like face slightly creased in concentration at making the most perfect-in-every-way dinner. Yao, who seemingly knew every part of her husband-the location of every scar, or the slight change in brightness in his eyes (which meant something bad happened), was waiting for him to return.

She waited, knowing that around eight thirty at night he the clinking sounds of the keys would come from behind the door, followed by the familiar click of the silver knob.

She knew he would always come back, because he had every reason to, didn't he? He was well protected, even if it was just Eduard von Bock alone at his side. And Ivan himself was not easily messed with, considering his intimidating stature.

Sometimes-no, often-that thought crawled into his mind.

If he never came back.

Yao didn't know everything there was to know about him. Even if she searched through every file in the cabinet of his desk in their office, she still wouldn't know that he was part of the Bratva.

She still didn't know, that he was risking his life every single minute of the day.

The warmth returned to his throat, knowing that he had done everything-from fake numbers to lies on international profiles-to keep her out of this.

That thought alone kept his mind at ease, and he carried it throughout the darkest times in his career of illegal crime, whether strategizing the 'fall' of a businessman or with a coldness of a blade against his throat-it lingered.

When the doors slid open, he made his way down the hallway, that was dimly lit by golden lights.

When the knob was unlocked, and his hand twisted, the door creaked to the side, revealing the tidy lobby.

"Yao-Yao~! I'm home!" The slight buzzing of the television, with a man's voice-the baritone, monotone of the male news reporter-was all he heard aside from the sizzling of the dinner.

Her hair was pulled into the usual side ponytail as she turned her head.

"Vanya! Look at this." She pecked him on the cheek before pulling him down on the sofa beside her.

An image of a ruined house, with several police cars parked and their blue and red sirens reflecting off the white plaster walls was apparently the breaking news.

An officer spoke about a dead person who was estimated to have been murdered in the last twelve hours.

The Baltics would be punished...

"They guessed it was some kind of foreign criminal, but they couldn't find any proof of it. Goodness, what is happening to this city?" She shook her head, sighing.

Ivan placed his arm around her shoulder, moving his face a few centimeters away from her.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you, da?" She slightly smiled, mischief in her dark eyes as she pretended to pout.

"I can take care of myself, after doing so well in martial arts-"

Her eyes widened in slight surprise when his lips collided with hers, softening again in bliss as she melted into it a few moments later.

It was one of the moments when he forgot everything else around him.

The breaking news went on unnoticed.

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, everyone! And a big thank you to Salty Peanuts!