Dreams and Heroes

America just wants to be someone's hero. And someone just wants to be saved.

Pairing(s): None
Genre: Friendship
Rated: T
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Warning(s): An OC is a mist.

America really didn't know how modern school life was like.

Honestly, when he was a little kid, he was taught by a governor as he was a sheltered little boy. But he wasn't being taught by a teacher, or a governor. He was going to teach himself. Well, not really teaching-teaching, like a substitute or a legit teacher; more like… more like the people you see on Career Day. You get to tell them your jobs and whatnot so the kids would have an idea of what they want to do when they grow up.

He wasn't going as a country, but as a diplomat for his country. And he wasn't alone either. The nations who wanted, or could attend also came with him. They were all in one big room as they basically had the same job, yet they had different booths so the students could learn more about foreign cultures. America's boss had offered the idea to him—well, not really.

It was a regular morning, and the First Family was having their breakfast, as usual, along with America. The kids were about to go to school and the parents were about to get ready for the day ahead of them. When the kids were escorted to their schools by the Secret Service, the First Lady had gone to the kitchen to wash the dishes—as it was her turn that day. The President took a sip of coffee from his mug and continued to read the newspaper, but his eyes shifted to America for a second before returning to the news.

"So, America," The President began as he set the mug down. "The kid's school is having a Career day soon."

"Oh really?" America. You see, he had a small liking for kids. Not that kind of "liking", though—! It's more like, he just loved playing with them and such. At times, it kind of disappointed him that he could probably never have kids of his own, as he had responsibilities as a nation to take care of. Although, every year, he did volunteer at an orphanage and helped the children there and whenever he had a new president, they would always apologize when their kids began to get hectic. Truthfully, America didn't mind at all, and just went with it.

"And they just so happen to have an extra room," His boss continued. "I wonder who will take that spot…?"

The President gave him a small smile, and America's eyes lit up. "Boss, is it okay if I go—?"

"In as a diplomat? Well, the room is big, so you're more than welcome to invite your friends over. Just tell the administration." Oh how his boss knew him so well.

"Thanks, sir!"

So there he was setting up his own booth in the room, along with various other nations, namely England, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Austria, and Prussia (he was going to question that, but chose not to). Canada, Spain, and China's schedules were busy, so they were unable to attend, Romano just refused to go, and he didn't bother telling Russia. He didn't really hate him or anything (they still fought and argued), he just hated going to his country because of the cold-ass weather. America had to save space for the others, so he couldn't really make a big booth like he wanted, but that was kind of okay for him. Sure, it won't be as flashy, but it can still have that good old American style!

He looked at his watch, and he smiled to himself as it was time for the students to start filling in. They were in an escalator school, but they were placed in the middle school section. It was a good setting as the students would hopefully be old enough to understand what they were saying, yet at the same time, they could still have an interest with these kinds of things.

It took a bit of time for the show to get going, but eventually, the students started filling in. He was watching them go to the different booths as the other countries were telling all sorts of things by making it educational, yet fun as possible. Austria's booth was at the corner, with a piano, and some charts while Hungary's was in-between his and America's booth. Unfortunately, Prussia took the booth to the other side of Austria's booth and the fact that Germany's booth was at the other side of the room, right between Italy and Japan's booth. England's booth was next to America's booth at the corner, and France was (unfortunately) next to his booth.

As the students walked around, America heard Hungary talking about her days as a warrior and a sixth grader made a mistake about how women weren't supposed to do that back in the day and stuff. Prussia just so happened to be talking about how awesome he was, even though he wasn't an official country anymore and decided to show the kids how he spent his days—bothering Austria, who was teaching his group about music and Austrian culture. Hungary caught sight of this, and started to beat Prussia up. That boy who made that comment immediately changed his mind. The girls became inspired and remained with Hungary, wanting to learn more about how she fought.

Japan was at his own corner, surrounded by students that took an interest mostly with his pop-culture portion. His group originally had a good amount of both boys and girls, until a girl brought up something, and then most of the boys began walking to Germany's booth. His booth was filled with equal amounts of girls and boys. The girls were probably there to just look at him and his muscle; so typically, the boys went to him and began asking him how he got like that. The food lovers went to Italy's booth as soon as they smelled food, and some of the girls even went to him because they found him cute.

France also had food at his booth, and he was chatting with Italy, until the topic got a bit out of hand. Germany heard it, and quickly threatened his life when he did. So naturally, France begun to bother England and a lot of the students gathered up when they started fighting. It eventually cooled off in a few minutes. When it did, the group that was surrounding France's booth were either talking about fashion or food. Meanwhile, in England's booth most of the students were there because they liked his accent and history; both which England greatly appreciated. Although, they were a bit caught off guard when they realized he believed in mythical creatures.

Meanwhile in his own booth, he just sat there waiting for someone to come. Sure, he had a couple of students look and talk to him, but it seemed like they weren't as interested compared to the other booths. It was most likely because of the fact that hey, they already lived in America and they were taught the basics of American History already—why learn more about it?

It sort of made him sad, to be honest. He didn't really care if they want to learn more about him, or they just wanted to chat. Maybe it was because England said something about him and their arguments together; maybe. He could have also talked to them about super heroes or movies, even American culture! But then again, they already knew about that.

It was already lunch time, and America was the first to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat (as there was no one he had to tell that it was lunch break). As he was walking through the hallways, he walk began walking down the stairs, and made a left turn. But he turned around when he began to hear noises.

"You're not listening, Ben…" A male voice sighed in disappointment. America decided to take a peek at the situation before proceeding. Apparently there were a couple of guys huddling around a kid. At first, he thought they were just joking around, but when one of them punched the kid in the face, he immediately began walking over to the group.

"Hello!" America piped.

"What the fuck do you want—oh," As they realize that an adult caught them, the group immediately ran away.

"Hey, are you ok… Ben?" America asked as he helped the boy up. The boy was around five feet and had messy dark brown hair, green eyes, and was wearing the school's uniform along with a dark grey jacket.

"Yeah…" He winced, as he began standing up. "Wait, how do you know my name?"

"I heard them say it, so I'm assuming it's you," America laughed light heartedly.

"Oh," Ben replied. "That makes sense. Anyways, thanks for that, sir."

"Can I ask why they were ganging up on you?" Ben sighed and gave him a smile.

"It's "May I", not "Can I"," He corrected him.

"Oh, you're one of those people that are like the human versions of auto-correct…" America grumbled.

"That's exactly why I get beat up," Ben stated. "I try to fit in and stuff by loosening up, but I can't manage to find someone who has the same interests as me."

"Oh, jeez, sorry about that dude," America sighed, guilt hinted in his voice as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Nah, it's okay," Ben smiled.

"It's just that I have this friend that's super bossy and he acts like he has a baseball bat stuck up his ass when it comes to me and my grammar," America groaned. "I'm kinda used to it by now, but still. He's also British, so he also nags me about the spelling."

Ben chuckled and replied with a quieter voice, "Truth be told, as much as I love literature and grammar, I like the American English better. British English doesn't really make sense to me, or at least the way they spell it."

"Right!" America piped. "Especially when they add the U to practically every O!"

"You're just putting more effort than you should and to be honest—" Ben agreed but was cut off by America.

"It's like you just want the word to be longer so it can seem longer and fancier?" America grinned.

"Quality over quantity," Ben smiled the two laughed until America patted his shoulder.

"Do you think it's uncool to have lunch with an old guy?" America asked him.

"Old? You look like you're still in college, if you ask me," Ben told him. "Plus, there's a place for the visitors in the teacher's lounge to have lunch and I don't want people to think I'm a suck up for adults either."

"Oh, ok," America replied. "It was nice meeting you, Ben. By the way, my name's Alfred F. Jones."

"It was nice meeting you too, Mr. Jones, and…" Ben smiled as he looked up to him. "Thanks."

"No problem," America smiled.

Lunch had passed by and America and the other nations had gone back to their respective booths. The room started to fill a few minutes later and it was lively again, save for his own booth. Until a bit later when someone walked up to him and knocked on the table.

"Hello, Mr. Jones," America blinked and looked up to see Ben standing there. "It was kind of hard finding you, but I heard my classmates talking about the diplomat section."

"Really?"

Ben's eyes began to wander the room as he talked, "I'm kind of surprised, I would have guessed this would have been calmer, because being a diplomat is supposed to be a boring job and all, but it's so lively in here."

America chuckled. "You should see what happens when all diplomats are in a World Conference. All hell breaks loose when it happens."

"Really now?" Ben asked with interest in voice.

"Yup!" America confirmed. "Do you wanna know?"

Ben nodded eagerly.

For the rest of the day, the two were chatting about American History, in detail, I may add. It was a bit awkward when they started to talk about the American Revolution, especially when England's booth was right next to his, so he barely talked about that. Other than that, they also talked about other things rather than war, like the Rolling 20s and how he learned how to dance to swing music at the time. Ben was apparently in the seventh grade and also talked about his story like the time when his dad went fishing, and when the topic of dancing came up, he told America about the time when his mom forced him how to dance, more specifically, swing.

Then came the subject of what happened when he was in the fifth grade; apparently, his mother had died in a shooting while on a business trip and how his dad and him had a really hard time having to cope with it.

"Oh, jeez, I feel like total shit now," America grumbled.

"Don't be!" Ben told him. "Dad met someone a year after, and he's been happy ever since."

"How's she like then?" America asked with a smile.

Ben began to speak up but, became silent. "Actually, there's another reason why the guys you saw earlier beat me up…"

"What is it?"

Ben took a deep breath and sighed. "My dad's happy, and that's all that matters right now, we have a good life and he has a good job while I try to get good grades. I really hate the fact that he has to hide who he's dating because a lot of people aren't accepting of it."

America blinked. "Is he gay?"

"Bingo," Ben said. "They think that just because I have a gay dad, means that I'm gay too. Like I said, I don't mind, but I just don't want to be beaten up because of it. I'm not even dating anyone! But… I suppose you want me to leave, huh?"

America shook his head. "No! Of course not, well… truth be told, so am I."

Ben's eyes widened. "Really?"

He nodded and whispered something into his ear, "You see the British guy at the next booth? He's the bossy and stuffy one I was talking about."

Ben looked at England, who was talking to some students that were apparently interested in Doctor Who and Sherlock. He nodded. "Yeah—oh. You like him don't you?"

"Shhh!" Ben blinked. "He can hear you!"

"But it's noisy in here, and he's talking to people—"

"You see, he has these imaginary friends, and God knows if they really exist and are listening into this conversation right now," America told him. "With him it's not "Walls have ears" it's "Magical creatures have ears"…"

Ben chuckled but he stopped and said, "What is it that you want the most, Mr. Jones?"

"Well, I always say that I'm the hero and all of that," America told him. "But I just want someone to say that I am their hero, you know? I don't wanna sound selfish or anything, but I would like some appreciation from time to time."

"Yeah…"

After that, he started talking about how he wanted to become the President so his dad and his boyfriend could be open about their relationship. Time passed and their conversation came to a stop when the announcements came on the intercom saying that all students were to report to their homerooms to end the day with a letter.

"Hey, what do they mean by letters?" America asked.

"Sorry, I have to go, Mr. Jones! It was nice talking to you!" Ben called in a haste to get out of the room.

A week had passed, and there was a gathering at the White House of all the nations who attended the Career day at the school. They all questioned why they were called there, but they kept it to each other, and kept it from America's boss. At times when they were waiting, they asked America if he knew anything, but he didn't.

After an hour, the President came in the room with a box full of letters. "Here are the letters from Career day. Sorry that I'm late, it came in late and we had to organize them."

After that, his body guards began passing out the letters to each respective nation as the President explained to them that every time the school had a Career day, they would have the students write a letter to their favorite person from the day, he also added that the diplomat section was the most popular this year.

"We read every single one of them to make sure they aren't pranks or jokes and every year there's always that one letter," The last letter to be given was to America, and the President gave him it with a smile. "This letter just so happens to be this year's letter."

America looked down to see what was written on the envelope.

Benjamin Harrison, Room 210
To Mr. Jones, American Diplomat

"Now!" The President smiled as he clasped his hands together. "You are all dismissed and free to return to your jobs."

Later that night, before America went to bed, he turned the lamp light next to him on and opened the letter that Ben wrote him. He would have read it earlier, but he chose to wait until he was completely alone to read it.

Dear Mr. Jones,

I'm sorry if this letter is bad, I've never really done this before. We do this every year, but I never get a chance to write it because I never really had a favorite from the whole event. Except for now.

Anyways, remember earlier when you were talking about that you want someone to say you were their hero? I just wanted to say that you're mine. We don't really know each other that much, even though we had a really long conversation. Beside the fact that you stopped the guys from earlier today from beating me up even more, you've helped me—no, inspired me to be better; to be a better person.

I know that you won't be here every day to get those guys to stop beating me up because of my dad and his decisions, but, I told him that I wanted to learn how to defend myself. So starting next week, I'll be taking some karate classes, so eventually I can learn how to protect myself.

This isn't a really long letter, but hey, quality over quantity, right? (I hope this is good enough…) I still plan on becoming President. Maybe I'll see you one time. But I want to end this letter by saying that you're my hero and…

Thank you.

From,

Ben

A few years passed by, and it each time they had an election, America eagerly waited to see Ben's name as part of the nominees for the election. Normally, he didn't really get to vote, but hey, why not? But even so, he hadn't seen Ben in years, and wondered how he was doing.

One day, one of the Secret Service came up to him.

"Hey John!" America smiled as he patted him on the back.

"Hello, Mr. America," John greeted back. "Guess what?"

"The unlimited supply of burgers I won from McDonald's came it?" He asked hopefully.

John laughed lightly. "No, but you know how I've been dating this one guy?"

America blinked as John had guided him to a room, Ben standing there. "He works here now, as part of the Secret Service."

Ben walked up to America and looked at him from head to toe and smiled. "You lied to me; you told me you were a diplomat when you really were the personification of America."

"Yeah, well you told me that you were gonna be the President, and that you were straight," America joked. "No offense."

"I didn't lie about you being my hero, though, Mr. Jones—I mean Mr. America," Ben told him.

A pregnant pause was between them, until America pulled him into a hug. "You can still call me Mr. Jones, Ben."

Ben smiled and stepped back, giving him a salute and a firm handshake. "Yes, sir."

"It will be a wonderful time working with you."

Notes I have a thing with America working with kids, so you might see more of this kind of stuff. Ben's name was a complete spur of the moment since I was listening to the Benjamin Button OST, so I'm like, "Why not?" So I did. Anyways, for this story, I got an idea when I saw something on tumblr with America wanting to be someone's hero. So I'm just there like, "BABU, YOU'RE MY HERO; I'LL WRITE A STORY FOR YOU," So here we go. Next story will most likely be about England. All I can say is that I haven't used country names for a full one shot in a while, and I'm used to writing their human names. Anyways, thank you for reading!