...Hello? Is anyone still reading this? People from Coming Down, are you still here? Please if you're here, review to tell me you are?

Well if you are here, have another chapter. I hope you enjoy.

~( Inspired by 'Nerves' by Icon For Hire and 'Shadows' by Lindsey Stirling)~

Feli wiggled and tossed to the other side, still sleeping blissfully ignorant of the invading bodies poking from the doors. He turned again, away from the sleeping body of Ludwig, ignoring the rising sun falling onto them like added blankets. The incoming interrupters poked their heads farther in, sharply whispering to the forms still mind deep in the act of sleep.

"Hey guys…..Feli, Ludwig, are you alright?"

Feliciano groaned as he sat up, waking up with major drowsiness and clinging sleepiness. He rubbed his eyes with the base of his hand, wiping some of the sand out of his eyes, and peered over at his open door with unfocused eyes. He could make out the long hair of Arminius, the soft blue bow of Lili and the red eyes of Gilbert coming in, but still he stayed silent, still detained by sleep's long reach. He yawned, stretching out his sore limbs.

"Ve, good morning guys" Feli spoke, having to blink before he could focus on them completely. Arminius, Lili and Gilbert slinked into the room, all looking at him rather anxiously, as if they were waiting for news that could make or break them.

"What's going on?"

Lili stepped up first. "Is everything alright? Gilbert told us this morning that something had happened with Ludwig?"

Feli froze for a moment, searching for the reason behind Lili's accusations, but came up empty at first. A few more silent seconds went by with a breath, and finally Feliciano felt his memory start churning out flashes of last night. He remembered Ludwig's painful midnight nightmare wake-up after being plagued by memory's shadowed fists, beaten back into what ever state he was in at the end of the memory's playback. He had helped him come out of the dream and back into reality, Ludwig clinging and crying into him for who knows how long, unable for a while to connect back to the real world. The agonizing event that Ludwig finally got to see what he had purposely pushed away, to avoid such reactions.

"Right…." Feliciano murmured, his right hand going for Ludwig hair. "He….had a bad flashback, a memory, in his dreams, like…like I do a lot. For a while, he couldn't get out of it even after waking up"

"He couldn't get free of the emotional impact of it, and spent a good amount of time just….crying and screaming into my shoulder."

Ludwig whispered something, curling tighter into his sleeping position. Feli smiled sadly down at him, running his hand through his hair again. More unintelligible words spilled from Ludwig's sealed lips.

"I did what I could for him, like he does for me" Feliciano commented, turning to the other Beilschmidt members.

Arminius walked up to Ludwig's side of the bed, brushing his hair out of his face. Ludwig's face scrunched up as Arminius touched him, and more incoherent babble flew from his lips. Sweat dripped slowly in beads down his forehead. His face heated, and the grip on Feliciano's hand grew tighter. His words began comprehendible, and the fight to wake him up began before he dove too deep into his nightmares. At first, all they could do was wiggle and shake him, just moving his body around with no results. Feliciano however remembered what Ludwig would do when these things plagued him. Feli got as close as he could to Ludwig, whispered a single phrase in his limited German vocabulary, and watched as Ludwig's shaking stopped, the stream of sounds and words coming to a full stop. His eyes, now glistening with tears, opened with a snap. He was confused, looking around wildly until he realized where he was and who was near.

"Thank you Feliciano" Ludwig thanked him, squeezing his hand.

"You're welcome Luddy"

Ludwig sat up, rubbing at his eyes to dig out the sand in his eyes. All the while, his family watched him without a sound. As he looked up to them, catching each of their eyes, he got this confused look on his face.

"Why are all of you in our room?" Ludwig questioned softly, looking around again. "Seriously, why the hell are you in here?"

"He's alright!" Gilbert cheered, "Relax, bro, we were just checking in. I had heard you screaming and stuff last night and told the rest of them in the morning. We were just worried"

Ludwig looked away from them, flushing in embarrassment. Feliciano flanked his left, curling around his shoulder and whispering things softly in Italian. Slowly Ludwig unraveled, reveling in the sound of the Italian's smooth and comforting words. They kept him calm and at ease, and the family noticed it quickly and took their leave. Lili said something to Feli softly before she left. Once again, Feli and Ludwig were alone in the comfort of each other's embrace.

"You okay Ludwig?" Feli asked.

"Yeah, I'm just…..I feel exhausted"

"Did you sleep okay?"

"….don't I usually ask you this?"

"Yes, but you're having trouble now. So did you do okay the rest of the night?"

Ludwig nodded, snuggled deeper into Feliciano's shoulder as they lay down on their sides. "Yes, at least until the end"

"What was happening?" Feli's face tightened, worry crossing into a frown on his lips. Ludwig's face fell, and he rolled to his other side, facing away from Feli. Feli flopped over Ludwig's shoulders, looking worried. Small tears were escaping Ludwig's eyes again.

"It was during my stay in the Penitentiary…." Ludwig started, "It wasn't as bad as last nights but…anything from that time was horrific…you sure you want to know?"

Feliciano nodded quickly, and finally succeeded in turning Ludwig to face him. He took hold of his head and pressed their forehead together, getting Ludwig to look him in the eyes.

"If we're going to be a serious couple, we need to know things like this. I want to help carry the burdens of your past Ludwig. You have already helped carry my burdens. It's my turn. All you need to do is let me know them"

Ludwig smiled softly. "Alright. I'll tell you about this morning's memory"

"Psst, Ludwig…Luddy, wake up!"

Ludwig mumbled something, not bothering with opening his eyes. He was too tired, too sore, to try and lift his head to acknowledge the annoying student calling for his attention. He could mutely hear the teacher blabber on and on about a sixth grade algebra equation he had no clue how to solve. He let the dumb adult continue on, blabbing on and away from his sleep, but someone else wanted him awake.

"Psst! Ludwig, wake up!" Something solid connected with the back of his head, launching him up out of his mid-day nap, catching the eyes of the students around him.

"H-huh?"

"Mr. Beilschmidt, take you for offering. What is the answer to the problem on the board?" the teacher droned at him, slamming his sharpened yardstick on the chalk math problem on his gum-tainted, crudely graffiti-covered blackboard. Ludwig had learned to keep his eyes away from the crap drawn penises and rude curse word messages flanking the only work space the wall-length blackboard offered. On the thin strip of workspace was a short, yet complex algebra problem using a mix of exponents and other rules. Ludwig, being still in the fourth and with a slightly advanced learning curve, knew how to do part of it, but the rest was like Latin. He squinted at it, trying to draw out anything to help him solve it. The room remained stagnant, a pregnant pause covering them all. A few students snored as they slept away the day.

"An answer, Mr. Beilschmidt, before we start to grow grey hairs and rot in our seats," The teacher murmured impatiently. He however smirked under the cover of his bent head, already reveling in his victory. He knew that this fourth grader could never solve this, and wanted to make a fool of him.

"15.5"

"Excuse me?" the teacher snapped.

"The answer. Its 15.5"

"No its-" The teacher looked down at his answer sheet and found that Ludwig had given him the correct answer. The fourth grader answered correctly, and obviously did not do a single thing down on paper.

"Alrighty then, Mr. Beilschmidt, come up and do it for us. I want to see it. If you can't by the time class ends, you'll be given punishment" the teacher sneered, holding up the small piece of chalk for the young Ludwig. The class simmered in the possibility of Ludwig's punishment, wanting to see him hurt like the sick sadistic evils they were. Some, who wanted no harm done to him, bit into their cheeks, hoping that he did well and impressed. Ludwig knew he had to do it quickly. He swallowed the frog in his throat and nearly sprinted up to the board, scribbling the steps as quickly and as clear as he could. He stuttered as it grew harder, the numbers growing more decimals, but he got it done, just in the nick of time. As the bell rang, no student left as all of them were awaiting the results of Ludwig's answer. They watched the teacher evaluate the young student's work. Anxiousness and excitement ruled the stagnant air of the classroom. The seconds ticked on for an eternity as the teacher mumbled, pointing to his answer sheet. The clock coming louder and louder until the teacher turned to Ludwig, who stood frozen excusing his hands, which twisted around one another.

"Congratulations, Mr. Beilschmidt, you had saved your body from any bruises from me. You got it right. All of you! If you had half the brain this youngster has, you would have saved yourself from homework! Ludwig, you're free to go. You've caught my good side. You can go without work"

Ludwig learned a while ago not to celebrate with the others staring him down as if he was a gazelle in plain sight. He nodded, collected his books and walked out of the room, the door slamming behind him. Only when he cleared the hall did he start to celebrate, cheering himself for a job well down and pulling the answer out his ass.

"It's a rather nice beginning Luddy" Feli said, trying to comfort him. Ludwig smiled, though it fell quickly.

"It was only the beginning, and it gets darker" Ludwig chuckled sourly.

He sprinted along however as the hallways full of classrooms turned to dimmed halls of cells. He had reached the housing units, and had to get to his and lock it before anyone got to him. He made his customary left turn into his cellblock and a right into his own little 'room'. He flung his books onto his bed, shut the door of his room shut, and locked it with the key he was given. He pulled his standard issue privacy curtains over the open bars and settled onto the far wall, taking soft panting breaths. He was safe. He was safe for the rest of the day.

He shrugged his way off the floor and set his books in his place next to his bed. After shrugging off his jacket and boots, he crawling under his thin blankets and hit the pillows hard. Even though he was good at it, math hurts his brain; ask any kid, they'll say the same. He let sleep capture him, his guard slipping just enough for a window.

Deep into the pitch black night, as small lights from kid's handheld flashlights lit up behind curtains and naughty students took to the night's dark veil for their bad or otherwise disgusting agendas, Ludwig awoke to the sound of a lock coming loose, and the swoosh of curtains being pushed back. Ludwig flipped to his door as a hand grabbed his shirt, a quick yelp escaping his throat. His head connected with the wall, sending stars to the corners of his eyes.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt, a pleasure to forcibly meet you. I'm Kyle, a student in your damned math class. You made a mockery of us by answering that damn question"

"H-how did you…."

"Get in?" Kyle sneered. "Picked it of course. I found some paper clips with my work. Apparently, someone wanted me to be able to sneak out and hunt your ass down. Now why I did is a whole other ballpark. You see, I'm representing the rest of the class, and we're rather angry with that performance earlier"

A punch connected with Ludwig's stomach, pushing him into the wall with the force. Another hand curled over his mouth to silence his cries. Small tears fell from his eyes at the pain it was causing.

"I'm here to make sure you stay fucking silent. No one, and we mean no one, gets the teacher's good side. It means hell for the rest of us. Since we can't stop you unless we kill you, which would be harder to cover up, you'll be giving me every correct answer on this homework sheet. You will make me fifteen copies so the others can do this piece of shit. If you say no, I'll beat you"

"Beat me then! Turn me fucking black and blue," Ludwig snapped. "I will not be your fucking cheat sheet you piece of shit bully"

"It was so fucking stupid to tell him that. So fucking wrong" Ludwig groaned, "If I hadn't said it…."

"Luddy….."

"I know…it's just…"

"Stop. You didn't know what you were doing. What happened next? Do you want to stop?" Feli asked, kissing Ludwig's forehead. Luddy wiped away tears suddenly falling.

"No I want to continue. I want you to know" Ludwig insisted. "As for what happens….you can probably guess what does happen…."

The fists and claws came quicker than expected, tearing and bruising him with killer accuracy. Ludwig tried to dodge and block but found it futile, as it seemed that several people were in here, taking turns in the game to beat Ludwig black and blue as he requested so kindly. He was kept silent, hands keeping his cries dead in their filthy palms. He was scared, but as he heard the sound of a blade being pulled from its holder, he fell into a panic attack.

"Ludwig, we've had enough. Agree, or suffer"

The hands moved from his mouth, and his heart spoke for him first, words of pure defiance spilling out.

"Fuck you" he spat, spitting up a wad of blood into Kyle's face, "You won't break me"

"I'll bet my pants that I will" Kyle sneered, "My nerves are harder than yours"

"Mine are shadows" Ludwig growled.

"They flicker and disappear?" Kyle was ignorant, trying to find weakness.

"No," Ludwig bit at him, "They never leave! Stab me, you won't hurt me"

The larger boy snarled, wiping away the glob of blood and fiercely slapping Ludwig across the face for added measures. He pinned Ludwig down, and held the knife over Ludwig's torso, skirting the tip around the exposed untouched skin.

"Your choice"

Kyle aimed for his heart first, and dragged the sharp knife across the section of his chest.

Ludwig's scream barely got air for fuel. He was chocked, gagged even, and he had to deal with the excruciating pain of being cut right where he lived, literally. It burned, tortured, and pained him, and all he could do was scream into the palms of his captors and cry to the deaf heavens. He couldn't even hope to be saved. As Kyle seemed satisfied with his works, the knife lifted away and he and his group stalked off, leaving Ludwig to deal with the open wound and the torn clothes and wounds.

Ludwig could only shudder and let the night capture him again into its cold embrace. He was just glad he wasn't sexually assaulted this time. He touched the bloodied cut up section of his chest, tracing the cut in lines. It would be a long, ragged scar across his heart. He stared at his blood-tinged fingers as if they were not his, blankness capturing his thoughts.

He fell asleep without even consulting anyone about this. He just lay on his floor, trying to calm himself. He had survived, just barely.

"S-so the scar over your heart…..happened over math?" Feliciano whispered, struck by the force of the memory.

Ludwig looked down sadly. He tugged back the left side of his shirt, exposing the scarred skin underneath. The ragged, twisted scar decorating his upper torso stared at Feliciano in mockery. Ludwig's right hand found the scar, his ring finger tracing the earned mark.

"Yes. It's my luck charm because I survived it. Because I solved that math problem. The bullies….never came to mind until now when I look at it"

Feliciano crawled up to Ludwig, hugging him close. Ludwig's left hand curled up around the small of Feli's back, his face pressed into Feli's shoulder. Silence and the muffled sounds of other vacationers were the only things heard besides the heavy thudding of their hearts in sync. Feliciano's hand snaked its way to the heart scar, tracing the rough outer boundaries of it, eliciting a gasp from Ludwig. Feliciano smirked, pleased. His hand moved into Ludwig's left hand, his fingers digging into the hand until they were nice and folded in Ludwig's grip.

"I still think you did what was right Luddy"

Ludwig smiled into Feliciano's shoulder. "Thank you for supporting me and thank you for listening"

"I wouldn't leave when you're having trouble Luddy!" Feliciano gasped, looking Ludwig in the eyes, "And you wouldn't leave me right? When I'm having issues again?"

Ludwig brushed his free hand over Feliciano's left cheek, kissing him on the nose as he answered Feli's desperate question.

"No. I never would. Don't ever think I won't come back when you're hurting"

They eventually got out of their room and joined the others in the next round and the next day of vacation, joining in as they explored around, taking in now the island as a whole, searching for spots they could hang out and hide in. Feliciano and Ludwig had their spot, their secret waterfall spring, so they deflected from the group again and playfully chased one another until they reached the little oasis-like spot hidden by vast waves of vines, tree limbs and tree leaves. Feliciano rested on the left rocky edge of the waterfall, lying on his back and letting the sounds of the island fill his ears.

"It's really peaceful…." Feliciano sighed contently, stretching out his limps with a big yawn.

"I'm hungry" Feli put out to Ludwig, looking at him with heavy-lidded eyes.

Ludwig chuckled, flicking Feliciano's nose kiddingly. "Want to stay here while I got get something for us?"

Feliciano nodded, succumbing to the sudden lack-of-food coma catching him in chilling vines. He slept on the flat, warmed rock, letting Ludwig go on into the village. While there, he picked what could only be described as a breakfast picnic, complete with still warm eggs made up by a kind woman from the village. As Ludwig carried his fest back with content steps, a hymn he picked up from the locals leaving his lips, he turned back and caught a glimpse of someone staring at him. This person, a man older then Ludwig, peeked from behind a grove of palms and sneered at him, reminding him deeply of Han, his almost-rapist from Personify Jail. Ludwig quietly remarked about this and went on.

Ludwig did a double take, turning back to the odd collection of trees as they swayed with the light wind dusting the tops of the trees. He swore he saw…. 'No', Ludwig kidded himself, 'It wasn't Han sneering at me behind the trees. Your imagination is playing you a fool'. Ludwig's chuckle at his eyes came out a little bitter but he continued on, brushing back his bangs as he continued on back to the waterfall and Feliciano. He abandoned the village to its devices, but the quick snapshot of the person behind the trees ghosted him for the rest of the day.

Just behind that same grove of trees, the figure turned away from the main road and walked on into wild jungle and vine-covered hidden paths. His brown hair tied up in a ponytail swung without care. Tight, vicious green eyes kept themselves glued to his walkie-talkie. He pressed the button, and broadcasted his update.

"Target confirmed. Ludwig is on the island, I repeat, the prison bitch is on the grounds"

A female voice backed up by static answered back quickly. "Perfecto! I was so hoping it really was him. How'd he look Han?"

Han sneered, chuckling into his open communications. "Scarred but what'd you expect? He survived Personify, Lier's Den, and self-harm. I think he's ready for try two of his duty, what'd you say?"

"Oh hell to the yes" the woman called back, cheering. The muted dragging of metal on concrete echoed in the background of the talk. "Let's welcome back our prison bitch. I still never got to see what he was hiding in his jeans"

Han chuckled at the nostalgic shiver running through him, amused by its burning touch. It has been a long time since he felt this welcomed burn. It felt amazing to feel it again in such heavy doses.

"Then let's find out. I will call the others to let them know the plan. I'll meet you at the Cells like usual?"