Identity Crisis

For: Wild_Card_Writing

Prompt: Tony is messing around with memories and a bit of Alfred's Nation DNA and creates a problem. No one remembers Alfred or anything of his people. Cue Alfred getting a phone call, and deciding to troll the rest of the nations until this mess is cleared up.

Bonus: All Americans remember Alfred, but to the other Nations he is instead remembered as that "Secret Southern Country of North America that no one knows." The nation representative is a complete mystery.

Bonus: Alfred takes trolling to a whole new level, and starts pretending to be Canada and wanders around.

"Alfred."

America briefly looked up from the video game he was playing, features scrunched in concentration and tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth. Spotting Tony standing impatiently next to him, Alfred hummed a greeting and turned back to the game.

"Hey, Tony. What's up?"

Despite Tony's lack of a mouth, Alfred got the distinct impression the alien was frowning at him. "Do you remember that experiment I was working on?"

Alfred defeated a bad guy and moved onto the final boss of the level, his fingers moving deftly on the controller. "Uh huh."

"The one with memories?"

"Yep."

"...And your DNA?"

"Sure."

Tony coughed into his palm. "We have a problem."

America missed a hit and his character was sent flying. He paused the game and set down the controller, focusing completely on the alien.

"What happened?" he asked sternly.

Tony shifted his weight, scuffing his foot like a child that had broken an expensive vase. "No one remembers you or your country."

America blinked at Tony and picked the controller back up. "Oh, is that all? That doesn't sound so bad."

Tony's brow furrowed. "You're not upset?"

Alfred waved vaguely and unpaused the game. "Why would I be? You're already working on fixing it, right?"

"Yes. But undoing it may take a while."

America struck a devastating blow on the final boss, which exploded into white light. "Then I don't see a problem." He turned off the console and got up, stretching. He worked the kinks out of his shoulder and looked at Tony. "You said people don't remember me, right? What about the other nations?"

"They won't remember you either."

America's arm dropped and he tipped his head in thought. "They won't remember me? None of them? Canada, England, France, Japan, Lithuania, China, Russia... None of them?"

Tony's red eyes studied him worriedly. "No."

America's gaze dropped to the ground. At first Tony thought he might frown but slowly, a smile stretched across his face.

"This is going to be fun."

"Hi, Yao!"

China's steps slowed and he stared at the young man who popped up beside him, grinning cheerily as if he were greeting an old friend. The blond-hair and bright blue eyes (like the sky) swept over him eagerly, and China's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Who was this young... This young, uh... He could not seem to identify the boy's accent. Maybe it was Canadian? China could not tell for sure.

Who was this young person and why was he bothering him? China was tired and grumpy (Not because he was old, no matter what Hong Kong said) and was in no mood to deal with overly cheerful young people.

"Who are you, aru?" he asked.

The boy blinked and beamed at him. His smile was so bright China was reminded of a blazing sun. "You don't recognize me?"

"No." China grunted. A thought came to mind. "I believe you have mistaken me for someone else."

The boy's head bobbed in a nod. "You don't want me to pay my debt to you?" he pressed.

China's brow crinkled. "What debt?"

The boy laughed, loud and boisterous and carefree. Even as he envied the freedom in that laugh, China felt his lips twitching. The boy's aura was blindingly bright, like he could look into the darkest void and see the light.

"Never mind. Bye." His smile remained as he waved and hurried away.

China watched the boy leave and shook his head. Young people were so confusing. He continued on his way before halting in place, belatedly realizing who the boy must have been. But why was Canada here, and why was he acting so strangely? China would have to remember to ask him the next time he saw him.

A few minutes after making that goal, China forgot all about it and the strange boy he had met.

"Who are you— No, wait. Matthew?" Francis said, frowning a little when he catches sight of Alfred.

America nearly jumped when France addressed him. It was the fifth time today that someone got his name wrong, and somehow it's still as surprising as it was when he first started visiting the other nations. He knew what Tony told him about the experiment, and even though it had happened so many times today, the fact that no one yelled at him, or demanded things from him was still so surprising.

Ever since his latest President was put into office, the other nations were getting louder in their disapproval of him and anything connected to him. America felt a strange happiness at finally being seen as something more than annoying. Even if that happiness came because people mistook him for his brother. Maybe when all this was over, everyone would understand him a little better.

"Yes?" Alfred said, falling into the soft-spoken whispers his brother often used.

"I thought you were not going to be arriving tomorrow, mon chou?" France said, leaning against his door frame in a move that was surprising non-exotic considering the number of times Alfred had to curb France's wandering fingers.

Alfred smiled, small and soft. "I just wanted to see you." He said, happy even for this small moment. Even if it was a lie.

France smiled brightly. "Of course! Come in, come in! I just finished making lunch."

He leads Alfred in, chatting excitedly about his day, and Alfred listened intently. This time he wouldn't have to fill any awkward silences or ignore heated glares.

" ...and then Angleterre had the bright idea to compete in the competition and people were dropping left and right. C'était terrible!"

After leaving France's place, America headed to Lithuania.

He did not make it into his friend's house before he turned around and left.

As he hurried away, America did not understand why.

Maybe it was because the Nordics seemed like better targets to troll since Lithuania did not really get jokes.

Or maybe he did not want to look at his friend's face and see no recognition there.

"Who are you?" Norway said, making America jump.

Honestly, he wasn't even trying this time, so how the hell did he cross paths with Norway?

He turned, an answer on his lips when he noticed that Norway wasn't even looking in his direction. Instead, the older nation was squatting on the ground starting at a weed.

Maybe he was sick?

"Y'u'll cat'h a c'ld." Yet another voice said in his ear.

He didn't jump, but Alfred mostly attributed that to the fact that everyone and their dog was jumping out of the woodwork at him. He glanced up and blanched. Staring directly at him was Sweden, looking particularly fierce.

If America didn't know better, he would think that the other nation was angry, but something about that thought just didn't feel right. He knew anger, fought against it, and used to it fuel himself during his darker days, but here and now he could tell Sweden wasn't angry.

Maybe he was concerned?

Alfred scratched his head nervously. "I know, but I'm trying to get home." Maybe he should have just taken a plane, but nation jumping was easier and faster than trying to fly through the blizzard currently occupying most of Europe.

"Where ar' your par'nts?" Sweden demanded his eyes furrowing on his face.

Alfred blinks at his question. Parents?

Why would Sweden ask about— Then it hit him. Sweden thought he was a human, not a nation. Maybe his relationship with Canada wasn't as strong as France's or maybe Tony's little experiment was more powerful than either thought. Alfred didn't know. He opened his mouth to lie, but something stopped him.

"They're dead." He said before his ears registered what he was saying.

"That's terrible!" Another voice cut in. Both Sweden and America turned to see Finland walking to them. "Do you need a ride to your guardian's home? It's a little too cold to be walking home?"

Alfred blinked at the offer before shaking his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't live here. I live in America," At the confusion in their eyes, he changed the destination slightly. "Near Canada, so I figured I'd stay in a hotel and catch a plane tomorrow-"

Sweden frowned. "Th' planes are gr'unded tomorr'w."

He looked off into the distance, as the sun started to dip beyond the horizon. The temperature already dropped into the negatives, and Alfred starts to feel very cold. He wasn't dressed for the weather, and considering how far he was from the nearest town-a few miles, it would be hard to make it before nightfall. Maybe he should just go back to Lithuania or something and wait it out-

"Stay with us!" Finland walked closer to him. "You're far too young to be walking around at night especially with the weather being as bad as it is, right Su-san?" He turned to Sweden for agreement.

Alfred blinked, now completely off guard. "Young? Wait, with you? But I'm a complete stranger." He rubbed his hands together as the cold made the joints hurt. Stupid history. "You don't need to worry. I'll just find a hotel-"

"Y'u w'n't mak' 't." Sweden, no Berwald cut him off. "Town's too f'r fr'm here."

"Su-san's right. If you tried to go now you'd end up lost and maybe even die! Here," Finland took his scarf from around his neck and wrapped it around Alfred, who was shivering badly. "My name is Tino Vainamainen , and this Berwald Oxenstieruna. Now, let's get home before you get too cold."

He took Alfred's hand and gently pulled him along. Berwald grabbed Alfred's suitcase, and together the two led him back to their house.

A/N: This prompt is from Wild_Card_Writing over on Archive of Our Own. The France, Norway, and Sweden sections are all written by Wild_Card_Writing. I altered them to fit my writing style. Everything after this will be completely original.