Here we go again! Hi everyone. I'm sorry I haven't been updating anything recently, but exams were going, muses were on strike, and now I'm making bookmarks and prints non-stop for the con I'm going to (SO COSPLAYING!), so yeah.

Hetalia is not owned by me (and no profit), but the provincial and territorial characters ARE my ideas, so I guess they're mine to a point.

Hope you like it!

Rodney threw himself to the floor, feeling the wind rustle his hair, as the vase Timothy had thrown barely missed his head, and crashed into the wall behind him. John, who was crouching beside him snarled, his accent making the words harsher as a plate followed the flower container and smashed somewhere above both of their heads.

"Can't take a day off, can they?" he spat. "Not one freaking day!"

Rodney hummed his agreement, but was drowned out as two of his other brothers, Timothy and Thierry, started to yell again.

"Merde! Do you know how old that vase was you imbécile!" Québec cried.

"Oh, do shut up, Thierry!" The Ontarian sneered, his lip curling in disgust, and tossed another.

"Damn it, Timothy!" The taller of the two yelped as he dove to the side to avoid another flying household object, before picking one up for himself.

Alberta watched, shivering slightly beside Newfoundland, as the living room was slowly destroyed by the quarrelling brothers. John grew tenser each time something smashed, before he finally took a deep breath and turned to the Albertan.

"This has gone on long enough." He said as he watched the others wearily out of the corner of his eye. "Go get B.C."

Rodney felt a grin spread across his face as he leapt up and made a mad dash for the door. He braced himself on the corners of the halls to keep himself from falling as he hurtled around them, up two sets of staircases to the floor that housed the western provinces. Saskatchewan poked out of his room as Alberta raced by and shook of his head, closing the door behind him.

Skidding to a stop outside his older brother's room, Alberta pounded on the red cedar door and bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently. After no response for several moments, he knocked again and called to his brother. When again no response came he raised his fist for a third time and nearly smacked the broad chest of the other province as the door swung open. British Columbia raised a slender black brow and Rodney muttered quick apologies before explaining that Ontario and Québec were fighting again.

"Have they drawn blood yet?" The native man asked.

"No, but-"

"Then you don't need me yet, little brother." Was his smooth reply before he moved to close his door again. Rodney could see towering trees past the other's shoulder, his brother's room was so different from his own, all tall mountains that looked like broken glass and forests that had trees wider than cars.

"Victor, please."

The other province stared at him for a moment, eyes serious and penetrating, before he sighed and nodded, closing the door behind him as he followed Rodney down the hall.

British Columbia highly valued his privacy, and that of others, for reasons that were not his doing. While other provinces and territories had been shifting and changing, Victor had stayed the same, watching from behind his mountains for over one-hundred and fifty years. But even though he was removed emotionally from the rest of them, he often took the role of caretaker when Matthew wasn't around.

As they made their way downstairs Rodney snuck a look to his elder brother's face as he struggled to keep up with the other man's long strides. He was handsome in the way a mix of Native and European could be; tall, with long black hair, sun-darkened skin and aristocratic old world features.

The sound of shouting reached them long before they got to the living room, joined with the sound of things breaking violently.

Pushing the door open revealed Thierry holding his blond brother by the shirt with his toes just barely touching the floor as he was hoisted up by the French province. Even form the doorway the sparkle of broken glass was visible in Québec's hair, while a small trail of blood flowed from the side Ontario's mouth. During the time it had taken to get B.C., several other of Canada's children had appeared in the living room.

Amery, with his piercing grey eyes, was standing with Reginald, who had decided to see what was going on and somehow made it there before them, their heads were bowed together slightly as they whispered to each other. Reginald shifted nervously from foot-to-foot as Amery placed his hand on the Saskatchewan's arm gently in reassurance.

Sable watched from another entrance, a frown marring her pretty face as she looked on the proceedings, which had somehow turned worse in Alberta's absence.

Victor stepped forward and stood at Thierry's side, his face warning against taking any further actions on the matter, to which Québec dipped his head the slightest bit and released Ontario, which let B.C. bodily place himself between the twins. Timothy sputtered for a moment, seeming to calm before he sprang forward, dodging Victor's quick fingers, and ducking under his younger brother's arm, lunging at Thierry.

Somehow all three of them ended up in a pile of tangled limbs and swinging elbows, B.C. catching most of the blows as he tried to calm the other two provinces. Herschel, who'd appeared from his room at some point, was at a loss of where to grab without somehow getting Victor, who was cursing up a storm and yelling for Yukon to hurry and help him.

"What is going on here?"

The shout drew everyone's attention to the main doors where Canada himself stood, files scattered around his feet from where he'd dropped them in surprise at the site he'd received when he'd entered his house. Slowly the three provinces on the floor detangled themselves from the mess they were in and Yukon crowed in victory as he hoisted a ruffled Victor off the ground and into the air. Wiggling free, Victor dusted himself off and with surprising dignity for one who'd just been on the floor in a fight.

"I come home, hoping for a nice and quiet night with my family," Canada sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exhaustion, he hated World Meetings sometimes, "but instead I find you two fighting again, half the house in shambles, and B.C. out here." Matthew paused as he turned to look at his brother. "Why are you out here anyway Victor? You're sick, you should be in bed."

The black-haired province shifted slightly in embarrassment. He'd rarely left his room since the Pine Beetle incident had started, and with Matthew coddling him, he was going stir crazy. Matthew gave him no time to respond as he threw up his arms and stormed away down the hall.

The room was quiet as Canada's angry stomps faded down the hall and were abruptly cut off with the loud slam of a distant door, to which everyone winced.

There was a small amount of milling before the provinces all started to disperse back to do what they were doing before.

B.C. stood tall in the room with a stern look for all, until everyone but Rodney was gone before he slumped to his knees on the plush, wine-red rug and covered his mouth as his body heaved as he coughed and hacked. Rodney followed him down with a small cry as his fearful hands hovered over the dark man's shoulders, unsure of what to do as his brother suffered on the floor. After what seemed like an eternity, Victor's fit subsided and he slowly made his way to his knees with Alberta's help, his farm-rough hands holding the western province up by his elbows.

"You geezer," Rodney jabbed lightly, his voice trembling; "you've been working in secret again haven't you?"

Victor snorted softly. "Of course I have. I am not going to sit in bed and sleep all day and let others do the work just because my health is failing. I will work until I am forced not to and you know this."

Rodney pouted but said nothing more. Of course he knew, B.C. and Alberta were the closest provinces on the western-side of the continent. It didn't change the fact that it wasn't the first, and wouldn't be the last, time that Victor worked himself so hard that he grew ill from it.

Rodney continued to hold the older province's arms until they reached the stairs, where the native man pulled away with a small smile as he headed down the hall towards Canada's wing of the house.

Alberta continued to watch his fellow province as he walked down the hall and eventually faded into the darkness of the corridor. He sighed softly to himself and silently cursed his friend. One of these days, Victor wouldn't recover from their family's stupidity.