The Safe Haven

Embodiment

China's arm around me felt unnatural. My skin burned at his touch, not in a pleasant way that Russia made me feel, but in a way that made me fear for my safety.

He led me through the unidentifiable halls. Occasionally, I would look through the glass panes on the door to see people in different states of pain or numbness. My mind was all over the place, yet it still felt empty without the voices of the past.

"I have something you may want to see, darling," China purred.
"I highly doubt that," I growled back.
The red man just smirked and pulled me through a door.
The room was divided by a sheet of glass, like an interrogation room.
My face immediately dropped when I saw what was on the other side of the glass.

"Happy anniversary!" China cheered.

Beyond the glass were two men. The shorter one had two blue eyes, like what I had as a child. He was rather thin with wavy red, white, and blue hair just past his shoulders. He snarled at the taller man, which was about my height. This man had red eyes and messy red short hair. He was broad shouldered and had the build like a farmer: bulky arms and legs, no abs, but a strong core.

"When we figured out how to put your soul back into your body, we discovered a few things. One, your past lives still resided within you. And number two, if we can put your soul back into your body, we could do the same with these two," China chirped in. "Anyways. I thought it would be a nice anniversary gift to celebrate the day you arrived at our fine establishment here."

What the fuck.

The two stopped their bickering and stared through the 2 way mirror at me.
"Hello, Union!" 13 shouted in his Mid-Atlantic accent.

What the fuck?

Russia's pov
☆°•☆•°☆

"Kaz?"
He looked up at me.
"Da, brother?"
He was trembling like a dead leaf in the wind.
"Come here," I softly demanded.

He unwrapped his wings from around him and my daughter and came to where I was sitting on one of the beds. I pointed at the floor and told him to sit.
"What am I, your dog?" Kaz sneered.
"No, but you are my little brother. Sit," I responded neutrally.
He groaned but did as he was told and turned his back to me. I ran my fingers through his medium length, blue and golden hair and started to braid it. He hummed and stopped his shaking as I braided his hair like I did when we were kids. His shoulders relaxed, and he was able to breathe normally again.

"Ruskie?" the feathered man asked.
"Yes," I answered blandly, focusing on his hair.
"Are you scared?" his question was hushed.

The curious question threw me into my head. All I could think about were my loved ones being the subject of torture.

My friends being torn apart metaphorically and literally.

My siblings fighting for their lives.

My daughter having tests and experiments done on her, scaring her skin and mind.

My poor Stars.

He was torn apart mentally and physically. He was used and abused for years. He has PTSD because of this place. He can't go through that again.

"Ruskie?" Kaz looked at me with his concerned expression.
Oh. I must've froze.

I can't lie to those eyes that have been looking up to me since the moment he was born.

"I'm terrified."

Not a few seconds later, a short woman appeared at the door. "Alpha Russia, please come with me." Her voice was firm.

I sighed, patting Kaz on the head and kissed Ursa on the forehead and walked toward that woman.
Putting up a struggle would only lead to torment of my loved ones.

We walked out the door, and I followed the woman. There was only silence before arriving at my destination.

"Okay, Alpha Russia, your pack has been rather notorious throughout the years. Alphas are rather powerful, and we'd like to see how powerful you are, Alpha of the North," her voice continued to be emotionless.
"You should know that I'm stronger with my mate," I sneered.
"Too bad." Another boring remark. "We are going to do a stress test and maxes. The max you can lift, run, top speed, yadah yadah yadah."

I groaned and looked at the equipment. Seems easy enough.

It felt like someone smashed my head with a mallet.
I grabbed my head in pain and sat on the floor.

The woman's face turned to one of concern. "Sir, are you-"
Everything went white for a second before reappearing, but out of my body. My vision was hazy as I saw fimlair figures

"What the hell, China?!" Stars screamed at the tall man.
"I thought you'd be greatfull for reviving those who've kept you company for all of these years," he defended himself.
I looked beyond the two-way mirror to see two men, similar to America.
"No! They are dead. They are just spirits that are possessing," he waved his arm in their direction, "some robot."

"Hey now, Union, I did tell ya I couldn't possess you, but this thing, on the other hand, is free game," the man with the blue X drawled.

Stars looked baffled. "How can he hear me?"
"All of you are still connected, so you may not hear them in your mind, but you all can hear each other perfectly, no matter what when speaking out loud," China explained.

"Great. Now I have to hear pretty boy's conversations with that 'Ruskie'." The red eyed man growled.
"Great indeed," the other man purred.

I was thrust inside of my body and took a gasping breath.
Without giving me a moment to process, the lady asked, "What made you have this episode?"
"My Stars was in distress," I grumbled.
"What did you experience?"
I recited what I saw and the conversation I heard, and she nodded her head.

"So you experience pain or distress when your mate is in pain or distress?"
I nodded.
The short brunette hummed, "Interesting. I wonder if it works the other way around."

_____________

Happy fruit month!
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