Warnings: AAAAAAAAANGST!

Ludwig was fine. He was holding it together. His breathing was slow his mind was calm he was relaxed in his chair and not panicking. Right?

Wrong.

Ludwig should really stop lying to himself. There was no way in hell that he was fine. His hands were trembling, and he was sitting rigid against the chair. His breathing was a bit faster then it normally would be, and he might have been going into shock. But he was holding it together. He had to.

There was no one else to do it for him.

His grip on his chair tightened, as one of the employees approached him. He stared silently and expectantly, waiting for news.

"It's going to be a while, sir, before we have a verdict." The young woman had black hair and a clipboard. Her feet shifted, and she glanced around the room, it being as devoid of people as when it had been when Ludwig arrived.

"Look," she said, "I know you already called your brother, who is flying from Austria as soon as he can. In the meantime, is there anyone else you can call?" Ludwig just shook his head. Since he moved, he hadn't really had a need to be social. His boyfriend had done that for him. There was no one from work he trusted with his personal life, and all of his other true friends were still in England. Or Japan. Or not talking to him. And none of them were really going to fly in, were they? His Bruder didn't even want to come.

Ludwig simply shook his head, rather than explain this. The woman looked disappointed but unsurprised by his decision.

"Alright. I guess I'll leave you alone now." She turned and walked to the doors on the other side of the room.

"Wait." Ludwig's voice was soft, but it was enough to make her stop and look back, her eyes seeming to bore holes into his soul.

"He has a brother. Lovino Vargas. He disappeared two years ago, but you might have better luck than I, trying to track him down." The woman frowned.

"Do you want him here?" Ludwig paused for a moment. Did he even want to see Lovino?

"No. But Feliciano is his brother. He deserves to know." The woman nodded, but paused again, just before the door.

"You're a good man Ludwig. Feliciano must love you very much."

Later on in life, Ludwig would remember this moment and wonder how the woman had known that the younger Vargas was his boyfriend. At the time he simply took it for what little comfort it was, and clung to the way her last words had been in the present tense, and not the past.

For the longest time, the only thing Gilbert could do was stare at the phone in shock. And then slowly the panic began to set in.

"Who was on the phone, Darling?" the smooth tones of his Fiancé echoed around the house, but the albino couldn't bring himself to answer.

"Gilbert?" The man in question took a moment to admire Roderich, as he pushed his wheelchair into the room. His once smooth hair was more rumpled than it used to be, and the pearly skin that Gilbert used to admire so much was now covered in burn scars. Gilbert counted himself one of the luckiest men in the world because his Fiancé had gone through all the hell he did, and survived.

But luck, it appears, had different ideas for him.

He looked from the phone in his hand, to the Austrian across the room, back to the phone in his hand, trying to figure out how to say the words that needed to be said, before the Austrians eyes locked on his face.

"Gilbert, what's wrong?" His tone was quiet and unassuming, a sharp contrast from the voices screaming inside, wanting to be heard, as much as ignored. Gilbert swallowed. He had to say something.

"Feliciano..." was in a car crash. He's at the hospital, unstable condition. They don't know if he'll make it. "Ludwig called… I" Ludwig called from the hospital. This is the most shaken I've ever heard him. It scares me. "I need to…" get to the airport. Say this out loud.

But Gilbert didn't have to say anything at all. Those seven words were enough to capture the gravity of the situation if not the specifics. He pushed himself forwards and grabbed the hands of his Fiancé, who automatically lowered himself down so they were at eye level with each other.

"Get to the airport."

"But I…" I'm scared Roderich. I'm scared that if I leave you alone, what happened to you will happen again, and this time I won't be around to save you.

"I'll call Elizaveta. Go." No words of comfort fell from his lips, but his arms were open when Gilbert fell into them, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I- I s-shouldn't l-leave you a-l-lone." He forced out.

"Shh, shh." Roderich's hands found there way into Gilbert's hair, stroking it soothingly. "Ludwig needs you more than I do, so dry those tears." He pulled the albino back so he could make proper eye contact. "Ludwig needs you to be strong."

The kiss between them wasn't long, or loving, but simply a comfort needed in the moment.

The last words spoken would linger in the air long after, when the Austrian was the only one in the house.

"I'll call Elizaveta. You go. Be the brother that yours needs."

The hospital did actually manage to get a hold of a particular Lovino Vargas, but it is yet to be seen whether that is a good thing…

A/N: I'm Back! ... like any of you care, I only wrote one other story. Anyways, this is an idea I've had bouncing around for a while that I decided to write down. It's a little darker than I expected... but whatevs. I'll run with it.

I have absolutely no idea how it will end, so if anyone has any preferences... well I guess the question I should be asking right now is... Should I kill Feli?

Lame story title is lame! I may or may not think of a better one.

I also hate editing, so spelling errors are my fault, but I do not take responsibility. If it bothers you, complain, and I will go complain to someone else who will do something about it.

I really wish I owned Hetalia, but sadly I don't. Hence, fanfiction.

Insert stereotypical plea for reviews here.

Seriously, I won't be writing this thing in five days, like I did last time. Give me some incentive to write here!