In case you didn't know:
Feliciano=N. Italy
Lovino=S. Italy
Hetalia= Not mine

Tucking the boy into his bed, Antonio sat himself at the Italian's feet, gazing awkwardly at his hands as he listed to Ludwig pace up and down the hallway, trying to calm the, still crying, still clinging Italian that still, stubbornly kept himself wrapped around the German's torso.

Antonio listened to the soft mummer of Ludwig's voice without actually trying to make out what was being said, simply taking comfort in the low, rumbling voice as he closed his eyes, just taking a moment to breathe and-

"FRATELLO!" the sudden scream made Antonio jump and bolt to the doorway in blind panic.

Only to freeze in the doorway and blink a couple of times trying to process what he was seeing.

Ludwig was wrestling with Feli as the young Italian struggled to free himself. Now, Ludwig was a strong man, a lot stronger than most boys his age, and he tended to work out on a daily basis, so, it was surprising to watch him struggle against the smaller, frailer Italian who had further weakened himself from his earlier, and present, sobs.

"Ludwig." a simple, soft word, not even a call, just a quiet state of name, but it gained him the attention of both men in the hallway. "Let him see his brother, it's alright." and Antonio backed up into the room to clear the doorway, watching Feli step daintily into the room, Ludwig in tow.

Antonio felt his heart lurch and twist inside his chest as he silently watched the Italian enter the room cautiously, bronze eyes wide and frightened, steps light, it reminded the Spaniard, if vaguely, of a skittish fawn.

Approaching the edge of the bed, Feli fell to his knees, grabbing at his brother's hand and intertwining their fingers. Bringing their hands up towards his face, Feli kissed his brothers fingers and then leaned his forehead against the intertwined hands, a broken, ragged sob wracking his body as he let out the most inhuman sounds either Antonio or Ludwig had ever heard come from the young child's throat.

Walking across the room, Ludwig fetched Feli a chair, gently lifting the Italian up to kick the seat underneath him.

"Fratello...? Big-big brother Lovino...? Lovi? Lovi!" Feli searched his brothers face, his voice rising to an almost hysteric level, as if he believed that shouting his brother's name would wake him.

"Shh..." Ludwig hushed, placing one hand on the Italian's shoulders, the other running through matted hair.

Antonio stayed silent.

As Feli quieted, his sobs, Ludwig pulled his hands back, nodding at Antonio as he made his way out of the room.

Only to freeze just before he stepped across the threshold, as Feli made another, frantic cry in his direction.

Turning in the doorway, Ludwig set baby-blue eyes calmly on the frightened Italian. "I'll go draw you a bath." he soothed quietly, nodding his head once at Feli, then, again, at Antonio, and left the room.

Feli watched the German leave, staring at his spot in the doorway after he left before tearing his gaze back towards his brother.

"Feli...?" Antonio began, unsure himself of what, exactly, he wanted to say, was there anything that could be said? Something along the lines of 'So, Feli, nice to meet you! I'm Antonio-' yeah, right, totally...

"Ve... Look, I-" Feli cut himself off, taking a shaky breath.

Then two.

Then three.

"I... don't really know who you are, but... grazie... thank you, so, so much and-and I'm sorry about... that night I just- I mean, Lovi just- ...Ve... you see..." standing up, Antonio crossed the room, kneeling beside the stuttering, stumbling Italian.

"Lovi. Is that his name then?" A name, an identity to attach to a face... to his face...

"Si, big brother Lovino." Feli turned his gaze to his brother's sleeping face, brushing the elder's long bangs away from his face, tucking the locks behind his ear.

"So, then, am I right to assume that 'Feli' is not your full name?" 'What are you doing Toni...?' this whole thing was absolutely mad...

"Ve." Feli (...?) laughed, more of a sigh, really, tucking his chin in and letting his own, long bangs fall in front of his eyes, before bringing his head back up with a wide, sunny grin that forced his eyes to close. "Feliciano, at your service Mr..." oh, him?

"Antonio. The German boy here is-"

"Ludwig." the voice was deep and borderline warning, making Antonio jump, while Feliciano giggled softly at him, obviously having either seen or sensed Ludwig before Antonio had.

"Feliciano, bath's ready. Come on, you're a mess." Feliciano's eyes widened slightly, and he looked almost helplessly towards his still sleeping brother.

"Go get cleaned up Feli, I'll watch Lovi." soft brown eyes focused on him, unsure and afraid as he regarded him silently for a moment.

"Ve, I wouldn't let fratello hear you call him that if I were you. Coming Ludwig!" bouncing up, out of the chair, and to the doorway, Feliciano grabbed Ludwig's hands and drug him out of the room, chattering away as he bounced, the words too fast and flowing for Antonio to make out.

He could, however, clearly hear Ludwig raise his voice above Feliciano's with a 'You're going the wrong way Feliciano, over here come on.' and Antonio had to bite back a giggle at the Italian's antics.

"'Big brother Lovino' huh? What are we gonna do?" Antonio studied Lovino's face, eyes flashing, almost fearfully to the Italian's hand. "What are you gonna do? A knife, a gun, what else can you possibly have up your sleeve?"

Lowering his head down to cradle in his hands, Antonio closed his eyes and prayed.

That maybe, finally, Antonio could have someone to love.

And that this, complicated, dangerous child would maybe, perhaps, want a family too.

Five minutes passed.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen.

Antonio sat, rubbing his thumb back and forth across Lovino's callused, scar-rough knuckles as he waited for Ludwig and Feli to return so he might get a chance to eat and clean up a touch... but, he didn't want to leave Lovi alone... just in case.

What was taking Gil and Franny so long? Were they alright? What would Antonio do if they got arrested? What would they do when they ran out of time? What about-

A soft groan interrupted his thoughts as Lovino's face twisted in on itself, his hands clenched, white-knuckled around the bed sheets and almost his entire body came off the mattress as his spine tensed and his shoulders bunched up.

Surprised and slightly frightened, Antonio reached towards his face, perhaps a touch would calm his writhing-

"No!" Feliciano cried from the doorway, racing into the room and throwing himself between Antonio's hand and his brother's body, meeting Antonio's eyes for only a moment.

"Lovi. Lovino." Feliciano pried his brother's hand open, wriggling his own palm against Lovino's, as he stared intently at the elder's face. "It's okay, Lovi, I'm here, I'm right here. Shh..." and the rest of his whispers faded into soft Italian as Feliciano pressed his lips against his brothers ear and the words flowed like music into the room as he breathed sweet nothings to his brother as Lovino began to whimper, tears streaming out of closed eyes and down filthy cheeks.

Watching the younger brother fold the elder around him, Antonio looked at Feliciano, the younger Italian practically a different person. His hair was soaked, but clean, and Ludwig seemed to have taken a comb to it, leaving it a softer, lighter brown than the filthy mess the Spaniard had met him with. His skin was paler then Antonio had first seen too, slightly pink from the hot water and, no doubt, through scrubbing, his thin, almost frail body drowning in what looked like a pair of Ludwig's sweats.

"I'm sorry." Feliciano whispered, wincing slightly as his brother tightened his hold on him. "He... he's very... touchy when he has nightmares. I didn't want you to scare him."

"How would he have scared him Feliciano?" Ludwig asked the question before Antonio could open his mouth.

"Ve?" Feliciano cocked his head at Ludwig. "He doesn't know Antonio." as simple as that, it seemed, though it made little sense to them, Feliciano sighed. "Your touch, your sent, what you feel like, what you sound like, you don't always need to see what something is to know what it isn't and, what happens to him in the real world, what he senses, what he hears, what he feels, affects the dream... you didn't know that?"

Lovino screamed, digging his heels into the mattress and throwing his head back to lift his spine up and off the bed, face white as he sobbed.

"No. No, Lovino. Shh... It's okay, you're okay, I'm okay, everything is okay... I promise." Ludwig placed a hand on Antonio's shoulder and the two of them backed out of the room.

Antonio pushed himself into a corner as far away from the bedroom door as possible and pressed his hands against his ears and prayed to God to make him deaf.

Anything to make the screaming stop.

Anything to make the hurting stop.

Howdy y'all! ^.^ So, sorry this took me so long, I wanted to try and fix my writing style, um, yeah, no dice ^^; but, still, this is one of my favorite Heroe scenes and I still have no idea what I'm doing ^.^

I've been thinking that, once I finish all four HH stories, I might end up re-doing them, like, whole enchilada, start from chapter one and re-write, re-pace, re-what-ever-the-fuck-else and try to make the entire series an easier, better read for everyone now that I'm starting to figure out my own way of getting things done, so, y'all tell me what ya think of that

Because of the fact that I am god-awful at ending stories, if y'all have suggestions about what I should do to make the ending smoother it would be greatly appreciated so shoot me a PM.

Otherwise, I think that was everything I had to say and Imma get on my other HH stories for y'all so, till then

Ja ne (see you)