An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Status: Complete
Summary:
Jones Conglomerates Incorporated controls the government. Its runaway heiress seeks to dethrone her brother Alfred, her husband Arthur, and the massive empire. While the mobs keep fleeing from the police, and others have suspicions, only Sergeant Gilbert Bielschmidt knows first-hand that Mathilda is hiding nearby.
Characters: Germany, Prussia, Belarus, Russia, Spain, America, England, South Italy, North Italy, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, China, Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Austria, Female Canada, France
Tags: Human AU, Murder, Mystery, Action, evil corporation, Anarchy, Overthrowing the government, Police, Rebellion, Mobs, Gang activity, Girl Power, Inspired by Batman, Inspired by V for Vendetta, Parallels to Reality, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Past Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Abortion, Implied/Referenced Drug Use
Prussia × Belgium for the ship ask. I was like let's go hyper rarepair
Send me a ship: ew / nonono / maybe / ship it / aww / otp / MY HEART
Ah! I’m in between ‘maybe’ and ‘ship it’ for this one! I would think there isn’t too much to go on for this ship, and the history they do share is neutral at best and very very bad at worst… But then I read a fic or two with this ship, set in present day, and they worked?? Could also have been the great writing style and the smut… *cough* Anyway! I’m not against it at all but I might need some more convincing. So if anyone knows a good fic with these two, let me know!
Combining these for unexpected, jealous, kiss, and breakup.
Sorry these take awhile guys I have to get inspired haha. This is an idea I’ve had for a long time but I’ve never talked about it, so it would count as “unexpected.” This turned into a Oneshot with a word count of 2k.
Setting: Budapest, 1956
Natalia knew it all too well; the stench of war.
The scent of crumbled buildings and dust, the toxic fumes of tires and metal burning on the streets that hung in the sky in clouds of blackened ash. For a moment, she felt she was walking through the streets of Minsk, glass crunching under her boots as she clung to Ivan’s arm and tears streamed down her face as she mourned what was left of her capital city.
But this time, it was not hers.
The fumes of gasoline and dust morphed into the stench of iron and antiseptic as she neared the commotion that was the hospital. Soviet guards stood by the entrance, and snapped into a salute upon seeing Natalia.
“Comrade Arlovskaya,” they said in unison.
“Comrades,” she greeted with a salute, then in a stern tone, “Where is she.”
“We can escort you – “
Natalia flashed a bitter smile. “I think it would be best if I not arrive to Comrade Hédeváry’s room with an entourage.”
The guards exchanged a worried glance. “But Comrade – there could still be rebels – “
“Are you suggesting I can’t defend myself?”
“Never, Comrade!”
“Then tell me which room she is in.”
Hospitals were always chaos in times like these. Civilians crowded the lobby, gunshot wounds and missing limbs sloppily bandaged as loved ones begged for doctors. But the hospital was full, and nurses ran with clipboards and stretchers, barking orders in rapid-fire Hungarian. Even now the panic began to crawl into Natalia’s bones as memories of wartime returned; she swallowed and forced herself to focus on the present as she strode down the halls.
They’re not my people. This isn’t my burden to bear.
She could easily imagine what Hungary was feeling. This was more than being shot in the chest; this was political and social turmoil. To a nation, it felt like being ripped in half. It was the fever, not the gun shots, most likely, that was keeping Hungary hospitalized.
The Soviet soldier stationed at her room didn’t seem to recognize Natalia; he blocked her path as she neared. “This room is under restriction,” he said, in Russian of course, expecting any Hungarian woman her age to speak it fluently.
Natalia had come here in civilian attire, in case any rebellious-minded Hungarians had it in mind to assassinate her on the streets. She slipped a wallet from her back pocket and flashed an ID card. “Natalia Ivanovna, KGB. I have clearance.”
“Comrade Arlovskaya,” the soldier said, snapping into a salute and immediately stepping away from the door.
The first thing she noticed in the room was the mechanical hiss of a ventilator. The next were the flowers.
The room was full of them – bouquets of red, green and white flowers that filtered the evening sun in a patchwork of color. Hungary lay face-up on the hospital bed, pale and glistening with sweat, her fingers twitching as the machine by her bed allowed her to breathe.
“Nat?”
Natalia turned around to meet the startled gaze of Gilbert. He looked as if he hadn’t slept in weeks – bags under his eyes, hair and shirt grimy with sweat. On the seat next to him, Feliks’s cheek was pressed against a wall as he slept. A bandage and gauze were wrapped around his forearm, and he looked pale as death.
“What happened to him?” she whispered, not wanting to wake the Pole.
“He’s been giving blood,” Gilbert said grimly. “Doctors keep trying to tell him to give it a break, but the bastard won’t listen. I’m supposed to wake him up in an hour so they can draw another bag.”
“Gilbert… how long have you been here?”
“I’ve lost track. Days.” Gilbert wiped a hand across his face, and his voice cracked as he said, “Just waiting for her to wake up…”
Natalia glanced back to Hungary. Even looking at her, she could feel the pain.
“I – I don’t know why, I thought the flowers would help… s-so stupid…”
“It’s not stupid,” she said quietly. Nobody had brought flowers for her during the war.
Gilbert’s voice became dark, a low snarl: “Y-your brother shot her.”
Natalia closed her eyes. She and Ivan had agreed to separate their personal relationship from politics. It was none of her business how he chose to quell uprisings.
“Gilbert… why don’t you come with me?”
“What, back to Moscow? As if I’d ever – “
“To a hotel. I can get you fresh clothes and a good meal, and a bed. We can come back tomorrow; she’ll still be here.”
“Compliments of the KGB, right?”
Natalia said nothing. Gilbert knew who she worked for. Soon he would be in the same position himself, once he completed his training. She was already working with the Stasi to create a position for him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just… hate all of this.”
“Then step away from it, for just one night. You need to take care of yourself.”
Gilbert looked up at her, and she hadn’t seen such a defeated expression on his face in years. Finally he seemed to come to some sort of decision. “Hey, shithead.” He lightly shook Feliks’s shoulder.
Feliks shifted with a soft moan, light green eyes fluttering open. “Hmm…”
“I’ll be out for the night. You’re gonna have to keep an eye on the clock yourself.”
“Co…?”
“And look out for Liz while I’m gone.”
“I was here before you, dumbass…” Feliks muttered in Polish.
“What did he say?”
“I think she’ll be in good hands,” Natalia smiled.
“I uh… I need to say goodbye to her…” Gilbert fidgeted, in a way she had never seen him do before when talking about Hungary. “Can you wait outside?’
Natalia resisted the urge to pull out a cigarette as she leaned against hospital wall. She had suspected Gilbert had feelings for Hungary as far back as ’45. But ever since his memory returned, he had been determined to win Natalia over. She had promised herself she would never fall for him again, but this had proved to be much easier said than done. They had been seeing each other for three years, Natalia all the while keeping a close eye on Gilbert’s relationship with Hungary. So far, they had seemed nothing more than friends… but she had always known, deep down, this wouldn’t last.
Maybe seeing Hungary near-dead on a hospital bed was making Gilbert start to realize his true feelings for her. When Natalia had told the Chairman she needed to be in Budapest, she had done so under the guise of intelligence work. But in reality, her first priority was to check on Gilbert.
I need to know how he really feels. But maybe it’s too soon…
The hospital door opened, and she glanced over to see his gaunt face. Natalia saluted to the guard, and the two of them left the hospital for the hotel.
They walked in a grim silence, past Soviet tanks and soldiers stationed on streets, past the shouts and bangs on doors, the stampede of boots as KGB agents stormed apartment buildings or chased down civilians on the street. Gunshots echoed across the city – the revolution may be over, but the aftermath was just beginning. Natalia herself knew she may be overseeing many of these executions.
Two soldiers saluted at the entrance to her hotel. They never questioned why Gilbert was with her.
While Gilbert took a shower, the phone rang. By the time he came out, Natalia was buried in a conversation with the Chairman about her role in the next coming months. Most of her work would be concentrated in Hungary; doing damage control, giving power back to the Communist government.
“Yes,” she said, eyeing Gilbert as he emerged from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. She nodded in the direction of a fresh uniform she had brought from the mansion, folded on the bed. “Yes, Comrade, I understand. I’ll need the files delivered tomorrow morning.”
Gilbert let the towel drop, pulling on a pair of boxers, not caring that she was watching.
“Yes. Of course. I have to go now, Comrade. Все.”
“I feel like a traitor.”
Natalia set the phone on the stand with a loud click. “And why is that?”
“My best friend got shot and now probably feels like she’s dying because of you, your brother, and the whole crew of bastards you work for. And here I am, cashing out on favors from you, just because you have protection from the government.”
“Is that the only reason?” she asked skeptically.
Gilbert’s head emerged from the undershirt he just pulled on, his hair wet and spiky. He sat down on the mattress next to hear, and leaned over to place a short kiss on her lips.
“Nein,” he whispered. He smelled of lavender soap, and she tasted droplets of sweat from his hot shower. But the look on his face… she had never seen him this worried, unless he was talking about his brother.
Natalia stood and crossed the room to a round wooden table. She unscrewed a bottle of whiskey, pouring out a glass for herself and Gilbert. She returned to the bed.
“I thought you were going to give me real food,” Gilbert smirked.
“Alcohol first. I need you to talk to me.”
“You know me too well,” Gilbert muttered as he took a long swig from the glass. She didn’t pry, rather, sipped from her own glass and waited. Gilbert’s fingernails tapped the glass in high-pitched rings between his knees.
“It was something… Poland said to me, in the hospital room. Well… said is a generous term. More like, he yelled at me.” Gilbert’s brows pressed together. “Nat… do you think… Liz is in love with me?”
Her breath stilled.
“Have I been this stupid? To not have seen it? This whole time I thought we were just friends.”
In any other circumstance, Natalia would have laughed. Of course Feliks would be the one to finally break the ice.
“She thinks very highly of you,” she said, lifting her glass to stare at the morphed reflections of the hotel room. “The ‘White Knight’ she watched turn from his evil ways and save thousands of her people from the jaws of the concentration camps… lucky for her the Hungarians were still around to be saved.”
Gilbert threw back more whiskey. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”
“It just seems plausible that she may have romantic feelings towards you, Gilbert.”
He set his glass down on the side table. “So where does that leave us? I didn’t think I felt the same way until…”
“Until she was in danger.”
A fire lit in his eyes, baring his fingers into claws. “When I heard what happened – that they sent fucking tanks into the streets… I feel like I need to kill somebody. And seeing her lying there… I don’t know. Something’s changed.”
Natalia let out a long sigh. She had rehearsed this speech before. A part of her mourned she would have to give it now.
“Then you should be with her.”
Gilbert sat up, startled. “What?”
“She loves you, Gilbert. And in these next few months, she’s going to need you. The things my job requires me to do… it would be best if we broke things off.”
Pale red eyes darted across her face in shock. “No,” Gilbert whispered. “No, Natalia I love you – “
Natalia reached into a briefcase leaned against the bed and pulled out a file. She flipped it open to a list of typed names and handed it to Gilbert.
“These are over 200 Hungarians I have been ordered to arrest and execute. I won’t be pulling the trigger myself, but the men who do work for me. I’m sure Hungary has close relationships with many of these people; she has been working tirelessly with them to organize this uprising. And she may continue to be courteous with me; as you all are, but she will always know the part I play in this game. And you know it, too.”
Gilbert’s eyes darted across the paper, reading the names. If he had been in close contact with Hungary, he may recognize some of them. He may have met them. His breath trembled, fingers growing tight around the paper.
“I can try to save some of them, but it will be difficult.” Natalia opened a cigarette case and lit one, leaning back on the bed as she blew out a long string of smoke. “We always knew this day was coming, Gilbert. No strings attached, remember?”
“That’s such a lie,” Gilbert looked over at her, and the remorse in his eyes was so genuine that she had to turn away. “That’s always been a lie, and you know it.”
“What I know, or what I feel won’t change the reality of the situation.” Dammit, why was her voice cracking? She had promised herself she wouldn’t cry.
“Natalia.”
Pale fingers reached over and plucked the cigarette from her mouth. She felt the burn in her eyes as she looked up at the man she had somehow fallen in love with again. Gilbert’s thumb traced the side of her face, his breath brushing her eyelashes.
“Let me just have this one night.”
The tears fell now, through the creases in his palm, and as Natalia fell back on the bed she heard the soft hiss of Gilbert putting out the cigarette in the empty cup of whiskey.
—
You can read about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 here.
