Ch. 5 Ready Set Go

Madeline held Fritz's hand as they walked down the street together. She kept glancing around, almost expecting something to happen since Alfred almost always walked with them. It was a bit of a scary thought that something could happen, but Madeline didn't want to get caught off guard.

Soon, the elementary school came in sight and Madeline frowned lightly. She didn't like the idea of leaving Fritz at the school because he was going to have to ride the bus to the high school Madeline taught at and he hadn't ridden the bus at all this year so far.

Madeline gripped Fritz's hand a bit tighter and continued towards the building. She chewed her bottom lip a bit as they continued to near the building. Soon they were standing right in front of the building and Madeline let go of Fritz's hand.

"Alright Fritz, remember you're taking bus 388 to the high school. Once you get there go to the office and wait for my class to end so I can come get you, okay? Remember that if anything happens use the emergency phone to call me right away." Madeline said looking down at Fritz intently.

Fritz sighed and said, "Oui. I got it. Don't worry so much mom. I'm just going to school." Fritz looked over at the school and spotted a few of his friends. He waved at them before turning back to Madeline. "Can I go now?"

Madeline looked down at Fritz for a bit before sighing loudly. "Yup. Go have fun with your friends. And remember, be safe okay?" Madeline said as she patted Fritz's head.

Fritz nodded quickly and ran off to go and talk to his friends.

Madeline smiled lightly at Fritz running off and really hoped that he would be okay. She couldn't help, but worry about Fritz. After all, he reminded her so much of Gilbert and remembering how Gilbert was in school made her worry about Fritz. Plus, Madeline was a mother. It was her job to worry about her child.

Chuckling Madeline turned around and started walking to the high school so she could get ready for her classes that would take place throughout the day. As she walked she thought about who she could ask to walk home with her and Fritz. She knew Alfred would have no way of knowing if she followed his instructions or not, but she was a bit paranoid about walking around alone too. The park was fine cause it was right across from her apartment and a ton of people were always there, but from the high school to the apartment, anything could happen there.

Madeline hummed lightly as she walked along, already planing her class's day in her mind.

Once lunch time came around, Madeline was sitting in her classroom, rushing to grade all of the papers she needed to grade. Her lunch of cold pancakes was sitting off to the side, only half eaten as she tried to finish grading the papers she was supposed to have graded last night.

She hummed softly to herself as she graded the papers on her desk quickly. A loud knock on the open door startled her.

Looking up, Madeline saw the high school gym teacher standing there with a large grin on his face. She smiled at him and said, "Hello, Mathais! Just the person I was looking for."

Mathais laughed and said, "Looking for? You're sitting there grading papers and lunch period's almost up." He crossed his arms and looked at the blond.

Madeline looked up at the clock and frowned slightly. "I thought I still had twenty minutes... And I'm still not done grading these papers!" Madeline said with a groan. Now she'd have to take the papers home and grade them there. It was Friday too so Madeline had promised Fritz they'd go and see a movie together since they always saw movies every other Friday. It would suck to be stuck grading papers all night and be tired the next day.

Laughing again, Mathais walked over and patted Madeline on the back. "It'll be okay Maddie. What were you going to look for me for?" Mathais asked. He knew Madeline would probably be able to get the papers done easily, but he wanted to know why she wanted him.

"Oh yeah! You know how Alfred randomly leaves for business trips and stuff?" Madeline said, waiting for Mathais to confirm. Once he nodded she quickly continued, "Well he left last night and I'm kind of worried about walking alone to my house with Fritz so I was wondering if you'd walk with me for a couple of weeks since your house it just past there."

Mathais frowned suddenly and said, "Really sorry, Maddie, but I can't today. You know my brother Berwald?" With a nod from Madeline he continued, "Well he and Tino's son is turning 13 today so their having a little party for him and I have to go see the little kid. I can do it next week!"

Madeline waved her hand lightly and said, "No, it's fine. I'll ask Lars once school ends to see if he can walk with me. Thanks though!"

Mathais nodded and then looked at the clock. "Well, I'll see you around Maddie. Tell Fritz I said hi, okay?" Mathais said as he walked towards the door waving at her.

She smiled at him and said, "Alright, I'll do that. Bye!"

Mathais left the room just as the bell for the next class rang and a few of her students started walking in. She sighed and looked at the clock for a moment, wondering if she could get away with having her next classes just have a free writing period.

At the end of the school day Madeline dismissed her students before grabbing her things and leaving the room, locking up quickly. Since it was a Friday she knew Lars, the chemistry teacher, would be leaving quickly so she wanted to catch the man before he left.

She walked down the hallway, ignoring the occasional student who wouldn't see her and would bump into her. Really, some things from high school never changed. Soon Madeline spotted the man she was looking for talking with a student about some paper that kept getting passed between them.

Quickening her step just a bit she walked over to Lars and smiled in greeting. The other returned her smile before turning back to the student and resolving the matter quickly. Madeline held her book in her arm and her bag on her back as she waited patiently.

"Sorry 'bout that Madeline. The girl thought she had gotten some questions right on this test, but I set her straight. What can I do for you?" Lars said calmly as he crossed his arms.

Madeline chuckled lightly. Lars wasn't perfect, but he certainly did know his chemistry and rarely got anything wrong. Frequently Madeline would joke around with him and say that he never got a question wrong because in collage her had been a stoner and had to get chemical things correct or it wouldn't turn out well, but of course Madeline didn't know. She had just heard Lars's sister say things like this every once in a while when the three would hang out every so often.

"Well I'm glad you were able to set her straight in the ways of the stoner who never misses chemistry questions," Madeline said teasingly.

Lars rolled his eyes and said, "Come on, Maddie. Don't say that with kids around. Enough rumors have been going around about me already."

Madeline chuckled lightly and said, "Alright, I'm sorry, but I do have something I wanted to ask you."

Lars lifted an eyebrow and said, "Yes?"

"Well, Alfred left for a business trip yesterday and I was wondering if you could walk with me and Fritz to my house for just a few weeks or so. I mean you and Bella's house is pretty close so I thought that it wouldn't be too much of a bother. I mean if it is a bother you don't need to," Madeline said lightly, looking down at the ground and chewing at her lip. She didn't want to bother anyone. If it came down to it, Madeline always cool start carrying around pepper spray whenever she and Fritz had to walk back home from the high school.

Lars chuckled and said, "Is Alfred's paranoia getting to you?" He was joke around of course. He knew that anything really could happen from the time it took to get from the high school to Madeline's apartment. Plus, a little kid and a young woman walking around alone would probably make for an easy target if anyone did want to pull something.

Madeline frowned at him and said, "No. I just don't want anything to happen. Y- Yesterday... never mind. Will you walk with us or not?" Madeline didn't really want to tell anyone about what happened the day prior because she wasn't sure how someone would take it. Plus, it wasn't very good to spread personal things around work.

Giving Madeline a look of concern, Lars softly said, "Yeah I'll walk with you guys... You know if you want to talk you can talk to me right?" He was curious about what happened yesterday, but since Madeline obviously didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't try to push the subject.

Smiling softly, Madeline nodded to Lars and then said, "Thanks, Lars. Do you wanna go with me to the office to get Fritz?"

Nodding calmly Lars said, "Lead the way."

Madeline smiled brightly at this and started off towards the office humming softly with Lars walking calmly behind her. Once they got to the office they saw Fritz sitting next to the receptionist and talking her ear office.

"And one time when we went there there was this huge scary looking hawk that was eating these mice and it was really cool, but really gross at the same time! But the bird was really cool. It looked a really dark brownish color, but it's tail looked kind of red and I told mom that I want one of those for my birthday!" Fritz said quickly, making hand gestures and moving in the seat to empathize his point.

The receptionist laughed and nodded. "I'm sure you'll get one for your birthday," She said cheerfully.

Madeline laughed and said, "What's this about getting a hawk for your birthday?"

Fritz looked over at Madeline and ran over to hug her. "I want a hawk for my birthday! You know the really big one we saw at the a- avi..." Fritz said, trailing off because he couldn't quite remember the word for the big bird building.

"Aviary?" Lars suggested with a smile. He knew that the little kid was practically obsessed birds of all sorts.

Fritz grinned at Lars for a second before going back to talking, "Yeah! Aviary! The big one at the aviary with the redish tail. I want that for my birthday. And we should totally go to the aviary this weekend because it's awesome!" Fritz looked up at Madeline with pleading eyes.

Laughing lightly, Madeline patted Fritz's head and said, "I don't know about getting you a hawk for your birthday, but I'm pretty sure I can arrange going to the aviary. We can do it on Sunday okay? And since your birthday's on Friday we'll look into getting you a smaller bird that won't bite off your fingers."

Fritz grinned happily and nodded in agreement. So she wasn't sure about getting him a hawk. At least that wasn't a no and on the bright side if the hawk fell through he'd still be able to get an awesome bird. "Okay! Are we going and seeing a movie tonight mom?" Fritz asked, suddenly remembering that today was Friday and they saw movies on Friday.

Madeline nodded happily and said, "Yup. Now lets walk home. Lars is walking with us today."

Fritz let go of Madeline and ran over to huge Lars. "Yay! Is he coming with us to the movies, mom?" Fritz asked. Alfred always went with them to the movies whenever he wasn't working so it was only natural for him to assume the male walking with them home would be going to the movies as well.

Chuckling lightly, Madeline gave Lars a slightly nervous look. "W- Would you like to go to the movies with me and Frtiz? Alfred normally comes with us and we get dinner right before s- so if you want to come it would be nice to have someone come along," Madeline said fiddling with the hem of her shirt a bit.

Lars gave her and Fritz a wide smile before saying, "I'd have to ask Bella if she minds her brother not being at home, but I'd love to come." He was joking about asking Bella. Knowing his sister, she'd be happy to get him out of the house. Plus Lars had been meaning to ask Madeline out on a date so if he went with them he'd have the perfect chance to and then Bella wouldn't be able to keep bothering him about being a coward for not asking Madeline out because he was nervous.

Fritz grinned happily and said, "Awesome! Lets go home quick so we can decide what movie to watch!" Fritz pulled away from Lars and grabbed Madeline's hand before walking towards the exit.

Madeline laughed lightly and nodded at Lars before allowing herself to get pulled out of the office and out of the building with Lars following quickly.

A couple of hours later, Lars came up to Madeline's apartment door, ready to go with her and Fritz to dinner and a movie. He knew that it really wasn't a date or anything like that, but Lars had brought a bouquet of tulips for Madeline and was going to ask her if she wanted to go on a date with him.

Lars hid the bouquet behind his back so he could surprise Madeline and knocked on the door, waiting for someone to open it. Lars was surprised to be greeted by a blond man who he didn't recognize. Suddenly Lars worried that he had been wrong in thinking that Madeline wasn't with someone. He knew that Fritz's father was gone and he had never heard mention of her having a boyfriend so he assumed she didn't.

The blond looked Lars up and down for a moment, noticing the tulips that were partly visible from behind Lars's back. The blond turned his head into the apartment and shouted, "Madeline I don't approve of this guy."

Madeline appeared in the doorway, her cheeks slightly red as she said, "Francis, he's not for you to approve. This is Lars the chemistry teacher at the high school I work at. Before you showed up unannounced we made plans for the three of us to go have dinner and then go to a movie since Alfred's gone."

Francis looked at Madeline and nodded lightly before looking back at Lars. Making a move to close the door, Francis said, "I still don't approve and I know Alfred wouldn't either."

Madeline grabbed the door to keep Francis from closing it. "And I said I don't care, now move out of the doorway and let Lars in. You're being rude and he's a really nice person," Madeline said, glaring at her cousin.

Francis sighed dramatically. He gave Lars a look that said, 'I'm watching you,' before turning around and walking away from the door.

Madeline turned to Lars with a soft smile and was about to apologize when Lars held up the flowers.

"I- I got these for you because I wanted to know if you'd go on a date with me tomorrow or sometime soon. I- If you don't want to it's cool I was just curious," Lars said nervously. After hearing someone that was probably part of Madeline's family disapprove of him he wasn't sure if Madeline would agree to go, but at least this guy wasn't her boyfriend or anything, right?

Madeline glanced behind her to see Francis peering around the corner and eavesdropping. She stepped forward and Lars stepped back as she closed the door so Francis wouldn't be able to hear their conversation.

Smiling brightly at Lars, Madeline said, "I would love to go on a date with you Lars. If you want to go tomorrow I can do that since Francis is hear to watch Fritz. Oh, and sorry about Francis. He's my cousin, but he practically raised me so he acts like an overprotective father most of the time. Ignore his 'I don't approve' crap too. He rarely approves of anyone I talk to."

Lars smiled and said, "Alright, I won't let him get to me. I'll come pick you up around lunch time tomorrow okay?"

Madeline nodded and accepted the bouquet. "Well we should probably get going to dinner and the movie or Fritz will start getting upset. Francis is coming with us, though. Now come on in," Madeline said, opening the door and walking inside with Lars following behind.

He closed the door behind him and followed Madeline into the large apartment, ignoring how Francis gave him a soft glare. When Fritz came up to him, he gave the child a light huge before standing up straight again.

"I'll go put these into a vase and then we can go. Francis can you help Fritz with his jacket?" Madeline said glancing over at Francis.

Francis nodded and went to the little hall closet that had jackets and such before he gave it to Fritz and helped the little boy get it on.

Madeline left to the kitchen and put the flowers in a vase with a bit of water before coming back into the room and getting her own jacket. Smiling at all of the boys she said, "Alright, lets go."

They walked to a nice little sit down place that was right across the street from the movie theater. It was a little dinner place that Madeline and Fritz had gone to quite a few times before. They sat in a booth with Fritz and Madeline sitting on one side while Lars and Francis awkwardly sat together on the other side of the booth.

Madeline could tell the situation was awkward by the fact that Fritz was the only one talking at the moment. That and the fact that Francis keep glaring at Lars and Lars was trying his best to ignore it.

"Uncle Francis how long are you gonna stay? Are you gonna come with us to the aviary on Sunday? It's really cool. Mom do you think the huge hawk will still be there? I hope so. It was the coolest bird there and I really wanna see it again. I wonder if they'll have any other new birds there too. It'd be cool if they got a whole bunch of the big hawks and we got to watch the birds eat mice and stuff!" Fritz exclaimed and said rapidly, not noticing how awkward everything seemed to be.

Madeline looked over at Francis and said, "How long are you staying here? I mean I know your band is on break right now, but don't you guys normally spend break to- Oh dear, for the love of God, please tell me Antonio's not in town too." Madeline covered her face and prayed that all three members of the Bad Touch Trio weren't there. Francis being there was good because he could watch Fritz and Madeline could deal with Gilbert, but getting all three of them together just spelled trouble for the entire town. With Francis showing up the day after Gilbert she was already a little suspicious, but if the third member of the trio showed up too Madeline would know for certain that the three were plotting something.

"Madeline, don't sound so upset that we're in town. It is not my fault that I decided to come visit and the other two followed.. Wait, how did you already know that Gilbert's here?" Francis asked. He already knew about what happened the other day, but if this plan would work everything had to seem at least somewhat innocent.

Madeline sighed loudly and shook her head. "I- I ran into him yesterday... You know what, we'll talk about this later okay? I'm going to go pay the bill and then we can go see a movie," Madeline said, sliding out of the booth and walking away.

Lars was about to stand to offer to pay for it himself, when Francis grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. Lars turned to Francis and pulled his arm away.

"I don't approve of you trying to woo Madeline. You seem nice enough and I know I can't keep Madeline from doing whatever she wants, but know if you do /anything/ to hurt her or make her upset you will wish you had never come to this town," Francis said threateningly.

Lars glared at Francis and said, "You know from the way Madeline's been acting it seems like your buddy Gilbert hurt her yesterday, but I don't see you doing anything about it. Madeline's an adult so why don't you stay out of her business?"

Fritz chose that moment to pipe up and said, "What are you guys talking about? You look like you're about to start fighting. Fighting isn't good so stop it. Fighting makes mom sad."

Lars looked at Fritz for a moment before standing up and said, "Come on Fritz lets go to your mom at the register so we can get to the theater quickly."

Fritz nodded happily and got out of the booth, following Lars over to Madeline.

Francis sighed loudly and shook his head. This was going to be harder than he originally thought.

Once the movie was over with the four walked back to Madeline's apartment. Madeline told Francis to go put Fritz to bed while she said goodbye to Lars. Standing outside of the door once again so Francis wouldn't have the chance to eavesdrop, Madeline nervously played with the hem of her shirt.

Lars smiled gently at her and said, "So I'll see you tomorrow around lunch time, alright?"

Madeline nodded lightly and said, "I'll be ready by lunch time tomorrow, but what are we going to be doing?"

Smiling secretively, Lars shook his head. "It's a surprise, but I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Just make sure to wear something you won't get too hot in, okay?" Lars said, the sly smile still on his face.

Madeline huffed lightly and nodded. "Alright, keep your secrets. I'll make sure. Thanks for putting up with Francis tonight. I know he's really annoying when he wants to be," She said looking down at the ground.

Lars just chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it Madeline. I'm just glad you and Fritz were able to have fun." Checking his phone for the time, Lars kissed the top of her head quickly before saying, "I've got to get back to my house now so I'll see you tomorrow."

Blushing lightly, Madeline said, "I'll see you tomorrow." Waving him off, she turned and went back into her apartment to see a slightly angry Francis standing there tapping his foot.

Rolling her eyes, she closed the door behind her and crossed her own arms. "Francis don't you dare act like I'm in the wrong here. You were a complete jerk the entire night to someone you've only just met. And don't think I'm not on to whatever you and that idiot and probably Antonio, cause he practically follows you guys everywhere, are planning. I hope you have fun watching Fritz tomorrow because it's the least you can do for being so rude all night. I mean honestly. At the dinner I understood having Fritz sitting next to me, but when we were at the movies and Lars tried to sit next to me and then you made up that stupid story of not being able to see that was just... ugh. God Francis, I love you and I know you're just trying to look out for me, but you just got into town and you're acting like you own the place," Madeline said angrily. She was pretty angry about how obnoxious Francis had been acting and she couldn't help, but vent it all out now that Fritz was asleep and Lars was gone.

In another situation Francis probably would've laughed at the fact that Madeline didn't even use Gilbert's name, but he remained serious. Walking up to his cousin he gently hugged her and said, "Je suis désolé. I'm just worried about you Madeline. I'm sure your friend is perfectly nice, but I don't think he's right for you to date. Though I will admit he has the patience of a saint."

Madeline chuckled at that and said, "I know what you think Francis, but what I'm saying is give it a chance okay? I haven't really dated anyone since Gilbert because I was worried something bad would happen, but I want to try and you won't let me. Please Francis. Just a for a little bit and if something goes wrong you can tell me that you told me so over and over again."

Francis frowned lightly and pulled Madeline into a tight hug. "Mon petit ange, I would never tell you that I told you so when it came to love. Now, how about you go to sleep so you can have fun at your date tomorrow?" Francis said pulling away and giving her a soft smile.

Smiling, she nodded and let go of Francis. "And you're certain you're okay with sleeping on the couch? I mean you could take Al's room," Madeline offered.

Francis shook his head quickly and said, "Seeing that boy's locker in high school makes me not even want to know what kind of shape his room is in."

Madeline laughed and then said, "Alright then. If you need anything come wake me up. I hope you sleep well. Good night." She waved at him lightly before turning around and walking off.

Waving and smiling, Francis waited until Madeline was completely out of the room and her door was shut before he went over to the front door and sat against it, wanting to be far away from Madeline's room so she wouldn't hear him. Whipping out his phone he dialed a number quickly.

Tapping his foot he waited for one of his friends to pick up. When he heard a voice on the other end he grinned. "Tonio, tell Gilbert there's been a slight set back in the plan, but I think we can fix it quick. You know that hot-head Italian you go out with? Yes Toni, the person you dragged along with us cause you know, we brought so many people with us. Mon Dieu, you're right Gilbert's sarcasm is rubbing off on me. Wait, back on track. Can you convince your friend to help us? Bon! I'll give you the details tomorrow when I stop by the hotel. Quoi? Yes it will be early in the morning so tell Gilbert to not get super drunk. He's no fun hung over," Francis said. Hearing a slight bang, Francis froze and looked around before putting the phone back to his ear. "Alright Tonio, I have to go. Phase one of the plan begins tomorrow. Good night."

((A/N: Bwuahahaha allow me to write a long chapter and still not reveal what Francis's plan is!

Translations:

Mon petit ange - My sweet angel or My little angel. ((I've heard quite a bit of debate between people about whether you'd directly translate it or otherwise. In this case I think either fits, but yes, directly translated Mon petit ange does mean My little angel.))

Je suis désolé - I am sorry

Mon Dieu - My God

Bon! - Good!

Quoi? -What?

I apologize if there are any mistakes. I'm only in French 2 so I only know basic French

So I hope you guys don't mind the addition of NetherlandsxFem!Canada(Don't worry it's not gonna last a really long time anyway) and Spamano. I also hope that I wrote Netherlands and Denmark in character. I've never actually written them before, but I've read some fics with them in it so I based it off of that. Also, you won't find out whether it's going to be Fem!Romano that comes in or normal Romano. And no, I'm not telling. And yes, I already know who it's gonna be.

Thank you to HiddenCreek, Neeky-chan, chibibeanie, thegurlwhowrites7865, Guest, and blacknightwolf1 for your reviews! They made me smile. Congratulations to Neeky-chan who guess first and got the closest guess, her guess being secret police. I kind of wanted to see if anyone would guess what I was thinking, which was CIA, but secret police is close enough. I was thinking of making him an assassin or something, but I figured that that would draw attention off of the main characters. (That being Madeline and Gilbert really.)

Anywho, Neeky-chan will get a one-shot of some sort that will be showing up on here when I'm finished with it!

Also, I'm really happy that people are reading this and following it and faving it, but I'd love a few more reviews.

And before I forget I wanted to ask if you guys reading this story could check out my other PruCan story, Twisted Fate. It's an AU and I think if you like this story you'll like my other one, but you know, if you have time check it out please?

Reviews are love~))